


Correction of the future

by KemikaWhizKali



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Core Frisk (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Crosstale | XTale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Dreamtale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underverse (Undertale), Characters Watching the Show
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:35:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24253711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KemikaWhizKali/pseuds/KemikaWhizKali
Summary: Before the events of Underverse begin, before Sans loses half his soul and before Cross and Chara wreak havoc, seven people disappear from their Multiverse. Dream, Error, Fresh, Stretch, Outer, Core!Frisk and Cross!Chara are trapped in a new world that they can't leave until they watch everything they're given. They get one chance and have to choose carefully what they change, for better or worse...
Comments: 129
Kudos: 93





	1. The beginning

"Not you again." Error glitched, staring at Fresh in annoyance.

"Yo, Wazzup my radical broski?" Fresh pointed finger guns at Error as he bounced to his feet, tilting his head to the others still on the floor. "Weird brah."

"GO AWAY!" Error's glitching worsened as he glared at Fresh.

"Error? Fresh?" The two turned towards the voice, only to see Dream slowly getting to his feet, a hand held up to his skull and confusion in his eyes.

"What have you people done now?" Stretch groaned, lazily looking at everyone and then his surroundings. "Where the **quack** am I?" He asked, only to blink slowly before frowning. "Why...?"

"His fault." Error pointed at Fresh.

"Oh, neat."

"What's going on?" Outer asked, looking at the many versions of, well, himself, and the lone Papyrus. "I was just at home-"

"We clearly don't know, so don't ask stupid questions." Error cut him off, moving further from the group when Fresh tried to touch him. "STOP THAT!"

"Alright brah, calm down, some deep anger dilemmas you've got." Fresh snickered, mockingly shaking his head at Error.

"This is odd." Everyone turned to the voice, everyone recognizing it for once. Core stood, staring at their hands, opening and closing one. "I wasn't in a physical form, and I didn't make one."

"YOU!" Error shouted, glitching horribly.

"Do you have problems with everyone?" Stretch asked, lazy smile not leaving his face, even as his eyes watched their surroundings warily.

They were in a living room, particularly the kind that was occupied by nearly every Sans and Papyrus in the Multiverse. The walls were a light shade of blue while the floor was a fluffy white carpet. There were three couches that all faced a TV, the TV was huger than any of them had likely ever owned. This was not a comforting fact.

Before the TV was a small glass table with... a note on it?

Spotting this, the final occupant of the room who had hidden in the corner, unnoticed, immediately moved forwards and snatched it up.

"Can you all shut up and maybe if you used your skulls you'd be smarter."

"Oh, it's you." Error smirked, forming some string and tugging on them, "How are you here? Can't be away from your other half for long, can you?"

"You can see me?" Chara asked, surprise flickering across his face. "Right now?"

"Are we not supposed to be able to?" Outer asked as Core walked towards Chara.

"Can I have that?" Core asked, holding out their hand for the note.

Chara glanced at them, eyes softening slightly before handing the note to them. "Whatever."

Core read the note calmly, glancing at certain people at certain moments. Everyone was silent, standing around the room, each with different expressions. Sighing, Core finished reading the note. "Do you all wish me to speak it word for word, or a brief explanation?"

"Just tell us what it says." Stretch waved a hand at Core.

"Ok. 'Greetings all. You have all been brought to this world to watch your future. Everything that you see will be happening in one month, do not worry, time here... works... differently.'" Core paused, glancing off to the side before continuing. "'You are all involved in this event, choose how you change things carefully.' That's the first part of the note."

"Future? That's ridiculous." Outer shook his head, frowning.

"Us being here is ridiculous too yet here we are." Error responded sarcastically.

"There's more," Core announced, raising the note.

"THEN SAY IT!"

"Brah, calm down," Fresh said, looking at Error.

"Umm, 'Normally only one person can see Chara, but in this place, you have all been given the ability to see them, whether this ability remains when you leave this place is dependant on what you do here. After the first part, you will be able to notice something different. Good luck.'"

Everyone stood in silence, digesting the information before Outer clapped his hands, drawing attention to himself.

"I'm not going to pretend I know what's going on, but I'd like for us to move forwards. I don't know If everyone here knows each other, but maybe we can do introductions?"

"I've only met two of you lot before, so it's acceptable," Chara admitted, crossing his arms and glaring at Error.

"I'd like to start." Core announced. "I am a version of Frisk, mostly known as CORE!Frisk. When with others refer to me as CORE to avoid confusion, but when alone I do allow Frisk, that is still my name." Core glanced at the next person, Error.

"ERROR. Destroyer. Don't touch me and don't go near me." Error said, glitching all the while.

"Hiya, I'm Dream! Guardian of Positivity." Dream lightly waved his hand as he smiled.

"What's up, brahs? I'm the cool Fresh, that's mah name." Fresh gave everyone a thumbs up.

"Don't touch it." Error interrupted, glaring at Fresh.

"Why? Isn't it only you that we can't touch?" Chara asked, looking at Fresh curiously.

"He's a parasite. He needs to move from one host to another every now and then. Other than that he's harmless." Core interrupted, smiling.

"Brah." Fresh nods at Core.

"Well, that's not the weirdest thing happening, so who cares?" Chara asks bluntly, "I'm Chara, from XTale. My soul is currently in his possession." Chara pointed at Error. "It's also merged with Cross, the Sans of my world, that's why I'm like this." He gestured to his phantom-like form.

"I'm, ah, I guess I'm a version of Sans? My bro calls me Outer, sometimes, a bit of a running gag." Outer scratches at his skull, awkwardly smiling. "But my names also Sans...? This is weird."

"It always is the first time you're involved with someone from another world like this lot, and me in this case." Stretch sighed, "I'm Stretch, I come from UnderSwap."

"Wait, where do I come from?"

"OuterTale." Core answered, a small smile working its way onto their face.

Outer blinked, a dreamy look crossing his face. "Cool."

"Yo, can we start or what?" Fresh jumped in.

"Even if this place has time working differently, I still want to get out of here soon." Dream commented, looking at the ground.

After that, everyone got ready.

There were three couches that could fit about three people on each, meaning everyone should have been able to sit down. Emphasis on should.

Error had taken one of them for himself and glitched whenever someone came near him, growling ever so slightly.

Stretch and Outer shared a couch, with Strech taking up most of it and only Outer had been fine with the small amount of room left.

Core sat on the final couch alone, sitting right in the middle, leaving Fresh, Chara and Dream standing around awkwardly, looking at each other.

None of them were keen on sitting with anyone.

Dream glanced at Core, hesitantly fiddling with the ends of his cape. He could sit with them. They knew each other, that was true, they'd met, but... he felt... alone. This was something new, something different. They were supposedly going to watch their future, a future that was only a month away. To him, time like that tended to pass by so quickly.

One month.

He wasn't quite sure he believed it, but he hoped it was true. He didn't know why.

Glancing down towards the floor, he examined the carpet for a brief moment before making up his mind. Smiling to himself, he sat down cross-legged and turned towards the screen, waiting for it to turn on.

Chara grumbled as he followed Dreams example and sat on the floor a great distance away from him, and everyone else.

_One month, one month, one month, one moNTH, ONE MONTH!_

This whole thing was a bad idea. The future? Stupid.

Chara looked at his hand, seeing the floor through it, how silly.

So... silly.

Fresh watched the two sit with an odd look. He'd love to try and sit with Error, had tried to, in fact, just to mess with him, but he fancied the approach the other two had more.

The Future, odd concept. If they needed to see it, then it meant bad news, the fact he himself was here, made it worse. Plopping onto the ground he shook his head, he shouldn't worry. Whatever happens, happens.


	2. A Truce to end the war

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a mixture of both the comic version and video version of 'The Truce' with certain parts purposefully omitted. I hope you enjoy the update which barely made my self-imposed deadline!

As soon as everyone was sat down the screen flared to life and the scene began.

**It seemed to be the ending of a battle between Error and Ink as Error grinned at Ink.**

**"This is the end. Everything will go back to how it was before. All the AUs will disappear forever!"**

"What is that place?" 

"The DoodleSphere." Dream smiled, vaguely remembering Ink talking to him about this day.

**"One more step... and all that you were willing to protect so much during all this time will turn blank." Errors grin continued to widen as Ink looked down and dropped broomie. "Haha! I can't believe that I've found the way to stop you and it all hangs upon a single string!" Error gave an experimental tug of the string that was connected to every AU in existence for show, laughing as a slight tear made its way through one.**

Everyone but Chara sent Error looks, which he purposefully ignored with a scoff.

**"Error... can I... ask you something?" Ink looked up at Error with tired eyes. "Why are you so selfish? They didn't do anything to you... Does helping to create AUs bother you so much?"**

Many sat up, curious about Error's possible response.

**Error only laughed. "Do you really think I'm doing this just for selfishness? I have a better question for you... Ink. Do you think the entire Multiverse... is as infinite as your lack of a brain? Let's see..." Error used his strings to snatch Ink's artbook from him.**

Error grimaced, knowing what he'd say, and knowing he didn't want any of these idiots to be a part of his conversation with Ink, apart from _maybe_ two of them.

**"Imagine... if the multiverse was like this "Imagine... if the multiverse was like this simple art book and its pages are ALL those anomalies called AUs." His grip tightened on the artbook before he threw it onto the ground, a crumpled mess. "What will happen... WHEN THE ARTBOOK CAN'T HAVE MORE PAGES!"**

Dreams eyes shot to Error, a questioning look in them. He'd heard Ink complain enough about artbooks filling up that this comparison simply clicked for him.

**"You filled all the multiverse with worthless worlds, even AU's that were never finished..."**

Outer and Stretch frowned at the idea of that sort of carelessness. What happened to the worlds left incomplete? Why leave them like that? Sentiment?

**"I destroyed them, and you kept helping to create trash! When this worthless Multiverse inevitably collapses... What will you DO? Everything has a limit, and the limit for this is forcing ya to not intervene anymore."**

Almost everyone's eyes widened as they finally understood what Error meant.

**"OH! I remembered something!" Error looked up and into the doodle sphere briefly before grinning menacingly at Ink. "I don't care if you obey me also my arm is getting tired... SO I'M GONNA END WITH THIS." Error glitched wildly, as he yanked down on the string, hundreds of AUs being torn to pieces before vanishing from existence.**

**Ink jerked back, staring up into the DoodleSphere in shock and horror as tears leaked from his eye sockets.**

"Our worlds are safe, right?" Outer asked, voice shaking slightly at the thought of everything he's ever known being gone, just like that.

"This was in the past, this event has already happened." Core swung their legs back and forth, a small smile emerging. "After we're shown this, we'll see the future."

"Well aren't you an all-knowing smartass." Error grumbled under his breath, uncaring if Core heard or not, which they did not.

Dream sent Error a knowing look with a serene smile. 

Error, catching the look, almost crashes. "Don't."

**Error waved his hand around, eyes shut with a smug grin on his face. "Yes, I know, I know. That was an excellent monologue, thank you-"**

"Bruh, you are so full of yourself!" Fresh snickered, banging a fist onto the ground.

"ShUT uP!!"

 **"Wait." Error opened his eyes to stare at Ink, who still looked like he was crying. "Are you crying?... Whoah... Uh... Okkkay? ...I'm just gonna... go... I can erase you another day... sooooo... SEE YA!!" Error spun round and started to speedwalk away, muttering to himself on his way.** _**"This is so awkward."** _

Stretch, Fresh and Outer snickered at the way Error was acting as he gave them all death glares.

Chara seemed to find some amusement in the situation while Core looked over at Dream, both knowing what was to come next.

Errors embarrassment and despair would bring amusement to everyone in the room, though less so for Dream.

 **"Wait. Come back,** _**PAL."** _ **Ink grinned widely, eye sockets shadowed.**

**"..." Error tensed and then picked up his pace, at this point sprinting away from Ink. "Nope, I'm busy, maybe later."**

**Ink placed a hand on Error's shoulder before pulling an absolutely demonic grin. "YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED YOUR WORK YET..." He laughed happily, placing a hand to his head and attempting to wipe away his tears with a huge smile. "You were so happy that it made me cry of laughter! HAHAHAHAHAHA I'M SO SORRY!"**

**"YOU ARE SO WEIRD, YOU HEAR ME!?" Error glitched and put distance between himself and Ink.**

_"What is happening?"_ Chara asked himself quietly, looking weirded out.

"Keep watching." Dream smiled at him kindly. "I heard Errors reaction was funny."

**"Man, your face was so hilarious! I'm sorry, but you just helped me with cleaning!"**

**"WHAT!?"**

**"Actually, all those papers you ripped were sheets from a notebook I scattered over there by accident... You don't have any idea how big the DoodleSphere really is, nice try, by the way!"**

"Y-you just did his chores for him!" Everyone burst out laughing in both amusement and relief over the fact no worlds were destroyed with Error almost crashing at their laughter.

**On-screen, Error did crash, causing Ink to burst out into laughter before collapsing. Several hours seem to pass with Error still the same state.**

"How long were you like that?" 

"WhO KnOWs." 

**Ink starts getting bored and hugs broomie. "Hey, Broomie! We should have some fun painting a new dress for Error!" Ink stands up. "Hmm... A pink one? PFFT OKAY!"**

**Ink leans towards Error with Broomie, which is doused in pink paint, inching closer and closer before-**

**"DON'T TOUCH ME! NOBODY MAKES FUN OF ME!" Error screeches, summoning two blasters.**

"Wait, wait, wait! Inky mah broski said 'new' dress, has he made one for you before?" Fresh and Chara laughed with everyone else smiling a bit at the thought of the grumpy Error in a dress.

"N-NoOo SH-sHUt uP!"

Dream leans over to Fresh and Chara with a smile. _"I can show you two pictures later, I've got one of the two together in dresses."_

_"Bruh you are rad."_

Chara smirked, simply giving Dream a nod to convey their own message.

He seemed to understand.

**"uh oh."**

**"...How immature..." Core crosses their arms, staring down at Ink and Error fighting, again.**

"YOu WErE THeRe." Error growls at Core, who shrugs with a smile. 

"Perhaps."

**"Calm down, Pal! I mean, even if you try to destroy the AUs, you would be creating another one with everything you're doing right now!"**

**Error shudders. "AAAGH SHUT UP!!! I KNOW WHAT I HAVE TO DO NOW." Errors flung his strings out towards Ink. "ERASE YOU FOREVER!! FOREVER!! FOREVER!! FOREVER!! FOREVER!!"**

"You're insane." Chara deadpans

"You should take a vacation," Stretch comments thoughtfully.

"Or a nap." Outer sighs dreamily, though their comments only irritate Error.

**Ink looks shocked. "WOAH!! You're serious!! Okay! Here we go again!" Ink grips Broomie and leaps toward Error with an energetic grin. "Let's get this over with!"**

**The entire world suddenly glitches, obscuring everyone's view as Error and Ink appear in a new place on a tiny island with not enough room to grant them personal space.**

"What was that?" Outer glances between Error and Core, but they both turn away.

Error unwilling to tell and Core determined not to admit they did not know.

"Don't bother, you'll never get answers from this lot. Well... you might get something outta Dream, and I've never met Fresh or this Chara." Stretch sighed and narrowed his sockets in thought as he looked at the three laying on the floor.

**Error examines his surroundings while walking backward. "Wh-What!? Where am I...? I've never seen this place before, I would've destroyed it long ago."**

**"I don't remember helping someone to create this..." Ink comments thoughtfully, stumbling back and... right into Error.**

**Both spin around to stare at each other for a moment.**

**"THIS IS HELL!!!" Error screeches, throwing his arms up in the air, utterly done with being in the strange world for roughly five seconds.**

**Ink gives Error a bored look, raising an eyebrow before turning away.**

**"OR MAYBE A CHANCE TO FINISH YOU!!" Error suddenly exclaims, raising his hand towards Ink, he grins, only for nothing to happen. "AAGHHFAHGHHTGH!"**

**". . ."**

"Bruh _what_!? Y-you're k-killing me!" 

Errors eye twitches as Fresh bursts into giggles, _again._

_Why did the parasite have to be here? **Why?**_

**"Wh-What? Where are my strings??"**

**Ink smiles, enjoying a short laugh before he turns away, sticking his tongue out at Error as he starts walking. "Welp, good luck finding new material for knitting. See ya!" Ink pauses for one long moment. "WHERE'S MY BROOM!!" Ink shrieks, gripping his skull. "I'M STUCK HERE TOO, AND I CAN'T GO ANYWHERE! IS MY DEAR BROOMIE DEAD? I DON'T LIKE THIS PLACE! IT'S SO HUGE AND EMPTY, AND I HAVE TO SHARE THIS USELESS ROCK WITH YOU!!!" Ink finishes by pointing wildly at Error.**

**"AAAAAAAAAAAA" The two scream, both having collapsed and clutching their skulls in agony, clearly having panic attacks.**

"It's not that bad." Core giggles

"Seems like hell to me." Chara states plainly, rolling his eyes.

"You might not be wrong." Dream grimaces, memories of similar incidents coming to him as he waves off curious looks.

 **"Where did... they go...?" Core reaches out a hand into the empty space where Error and Ink had been, a curious look on their face. "...They're not in any other AU or timeline... Have they ceased to exist in** _**this** _ **Multiverse?... At least nobody was hurt... But, I wonder if this changes anything..."**

"Thanks so much for your obvious care." Error comments sarcastically.

**"...20 hours have passed... who cares, I've lost count, but Error is finally talking to me."**

**"Yo, Ink. What are you going to do?"**

"You actually engaged in conversation with him?" Dream asks Error.

"I got bored." Error grumbled back.

**"About what?"**

**"I'm looking for a way to end my life. Maybe in a few minutes, I can figure it out. If you haven't thought of anything yet, that's fine by me. But I don't want to stick around here with your dusty corpse."**

"You both just give up like that? Unrad bro." Fresh shakes his head, bringing some laughs out of the somber group.

**"...It's ok, Error." Ink looks down with dark bags under his eye sockets. "... I think I don't have anything better to do here. I'll catch you later."**

**The world goes dark, only showing Ink now. "...Creators... yes... I'm talking to you... I'm sorry... if I did something bad... if** _**WE** _ **did something bad, but... I want to come back... Please... Someone Help Us..."**

Error frowned, turning away from the screen.

"What a curious place." Core murmured softly to themselves.

**"No... No... No...! NO!!"**

_**This was never the end** _

**Two spirals shoot up into the air, both showing different places.**

_**You two were brought here...** _

_**Because something new was waiting for you** _

_**You will never stop being what you choose to be** _

**Tendrils similar to hands shoot out and latch onto both Error and Ink, dragging them both towards the spirals.**

**"WHOA!!"**

**"AH! LET ME GO!"**

**The two vanished alongside the spirals, leaving only the lonely rock.**

_**You two have your own worlds to discover** _

_**When you're ready** _

_**You may return to the limbo and the Multiverse anytime...** _

_**...** _

_**You'll find a surprise** _

_**The war is finally over** _

"But... is it really? Why would we be here if it was."

**"We've been fighting for the Multiverse's existence many times.**

**Destroy or Create.**

**This is our reason for a war between us, isn't it?**

**Let me tell you,**

**That I'm going to win this war."**

**"Honestly,**

**I don't care how much you hate me.**

**Everything I do,**

**Actually, scares you."**

"As if." Error scoffed, ignoring the pointed looks he kept receiving.

**"Half of the Multiverse has gone, erased by their own creators... They understood their Alternate Universes are a waster of time and space."**

**"Because they tried to make a story in which we would get along... hah, Isn't it magnificent?"**

**"If everything is so funny for you... What if we make this more interesting? Like we could make an agreement.**

_**AND SEE HOW MUCH YOU CAN HANDLE WITH THIS.** _

**No more creation. No more destruction.**

**If you don't help to create more anomalies, I promise not to destroy them."**

**"Promises are made to break them, anyways. Which of us can break our truce in the most significant way?"**

**"Indeed, I will be the only one."**

**"I don't think so."**

**... **

**....... **

**........... **

**"I made a new friend. We're having so much fun in his AU!"**

**"I hope you're not hiding anything."**

**"Don't worry, Error. Creating a little 'game' is not included in our truce."**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Has anyone watched ‘owners’? It put me so on edge!


	3. Lost Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to just go straight into Underverse.

**Immediately after the last scene was over, a new scene began, starting in** **a white void, where the original Sans stood with his eyes shut.**

"Who's that?" Outer asked quietly, glancing at Stretch.

"I think he's the original Sans, I'm not sure. I don't get involved with the other worlds much." Stretch responded.

Outer frowned but nodded in understanding.

**Classic opens his eyes, looking at his surroundings before looking up, seeing his predicament, he looks back down with a deadpanned expression and tries to count all the times he's found himself in strange dimensions.**

Core snorted at this, Outer and Dream smiling along.

**Classic walked around before stopping behind another person, who was sitting on the floor peacefully. Classic looked like he was trying to speak before the other form spoke up.**

**"You're voice can't be heard in this place."**

All eyes turned to Chara, who sat rigidly, staring intently at the screen.

"That's you, isn't it?" Dream asked quietly while the attention of the others turned back to the screen, shifting closer to Chara.

"To a degree, yes."

**"You don't need to introduce yourself. I know who you are. You are Sans-"**

"You were right." Outer comments, making Stretch's lazy grin widen.

**"And you are living in a True Pacifist Timeline. Dude, it has to be great having monsters and humans living together on the surface. Your brother... Your friends... Even you... Everyone is so happy, aren't they? There's no need to fight again, right?" They clenched their fists. "You don't need to use your powers now, right? After all, nobody is going to hurt you." They stood up slowly."Do you understand what I'm trying to say? Oh, don't worry. Your timeline won't change when you-... Well..."**

**The screen now showed Classic as they continued speaking, his grin widening more and more, expression darkening.**

**"Let's just say no one will notice anything is different when you're gone..."**

Listening to Chara speak, everyone could get a general idea of which direction this story was going to go.

Chara refused to look at anyone, desperately soaking in the details of the scene.

**_"Because I am you."_ They turned to reveal themselves as XChara, the first from the room to appear, grinning widely with a childish glee glimmering in their eyes matched with something cold and dead. They briefly switched appearance, too fast for anyone to notice. **

**Classic stood, hands in his pockets as his soul flickered, signaling a battle, the screen briefly turned dark before showing Classic once more, two GasterBlasters by his side, left eye glowing. His smile widened as he moved his left hand, which was now raised, slightly forwards. Ready for battle.**

**"Hey, wait! Calm down! I'm j-just joking with you!" XChara screeched, rapidly waving his hands in front of himself, terrified. "I just... I just want to be happy before I die... I only have one day left to live..."**

"What does that mean?" Stretch asked. He always had a soft spot for versions of Chara and his bro, depending on how they acted.

"Ink never mentioned that part." Dream muttered, watching Chara closely, who turned towards him, evidently hearing him.

**"I don't have anyone else. Please... let me spend time with our loved ones." XChara raised a hand out towards Classic, waiting for something as The GasterBlasters vanished. "Let me stay in your timeline for a while. I won't hurt anyone and-"**

"What do you think it means?" Error asked Stretch, annoyed. "Remember who has their Soul?"

"But-"

"He's right. I'm currently keeping myself and Cross alive through my determination, it'll last about a month if worked correctly." Chara comments idly.

**Classic turned around and started walking away, leaving XChara annoyed.**

"Going off this it really does last you a month if that's your last day." Outer acknowledges, leaving Stretch to grumble to himself.

**"HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING? I HAVEN'T FINISHED YET!" Desperate, XChara threw their arm up, outstretched towards Classic.**

**Classic looked down in surprise as his soul flickered, turning blue before he was dragged right back in front of XChara.**

**The screen turned dark before displaying a health bar, Classic's health bar. Everyone watched with bated breaths as it dropped from 1 to 0.5**

"What did you do?" Core whispered to themselves, staring at Chara's back, a frown growing.

**The screen once more showed them, holding half a soul, a half of Classic's soul.**

**"Never let your guard down." They spoke with a smile, standing over the kneeling form of Classic. "You should listen to Undyne when she gives you advice."**

**The screen then showed XChara's face, except it wasn't XChara, it was another Sans standing there with the smile and soul.**

**"And there he is, making his grand appearance," XChara spoke sarcastically, a frown marring his face. "Bravo Cross."**

**"I had just wanted a few minutes, but now your selfishness has given me many years to live!" Cross grinned, sounding madder and madder the more he spoke. _"That was much easier than being nice to you, huh?"_**

**The white void changed back to the surface, most likely the area Sans has previously been in.**

**_"With this part of your soul, I can have a new, bright life in your universe. C'mon Sans. Don't look at me like that."_ **

**Classic was clutching at where his soul should be, breathing heavily and looking pained.**

**_"I'm just giving you a looong break that will last FOREVER."_ There was a brief flip as XChara replaced Cross before reversing and repeating.**

**All went dark for a moment, no sound, no light, darkness. It took a moment before the swooshing sound came followed by a hit and a flash of color slicing through the dark.**

Dream perked up a bit, smiling as Ink was shown standing in front of Classic, Broomy pointed towards Cross offensively. It was nice to see his friend. They hadn't spoken recently, he'd been busy, but Ink seemed... preoccupied, whenever he visited.

**"You will never find happiness in someone else's timeline, C!" Ink spoke firmly, left eye formed in the shape of a star as his scarf fluttered in the wind.**

**_"You again!? GET LOST"_ XChara shouted, seeming to have once again switched. _"Or I'm gonna destroy this timeline forever! No more of your Pacifist crap!"_**

Fresh frowned, instantly noting his ability didn't work on the people on screen. "That's just not cool brah, unrad."

Error smirked, thinking he may just enjoy himself now.

**"Stop fooling around, C. Give him his soul back, and then we can go home, ok?"**

**XChara's glare harshened as they moved their hand the held the soul further back, away from Ink.**

Stretch frowned, glancing at Outer before looking down at Chara, watching the way he gripped at the carpet, and then back to the screen. C was obviously a shorter version of Cross, based on Chara's reaction, but it was Chara being shown, so why not call them by their name or at least not act like it was Cross. That didn't seem fair. Their reaction, both onscreen and off-screen confirmed it bothered them, so why do it? He was acting... light, about the situation, like he wasn't taking it seriously.

**_"GET LOST NOW!"_ XChara balled his hands into fists, glaring at Ink as he summoned weapons that shot up from the earth behind him.**

**"Oh, are you serious?" Ink asked, eyes flickering with different shapes and colors before reverting back to the way they were before, an odd tone in his voice.**

Not many understood the tone, the only ones who seemed to understand it were Dream, who lowered his eyes to the ground, and Chara, who scoffed. Core looked like they understood as well, but remained aloof.

Error showed no reaction.

**"Welp. You asked for it." Ink shut his eyes briefly looking peaceful. "Sans, stay behind me. I'll try to make this quick."**

**XChara leaped at Ink, who swiped at them with broomy, knocking them back.**

**XChara threw out a hand, aiming, but missed twice.**

**"I guess it's my turn now." Ink smiled happily, appearing in front of XChara and splashing them with more paint as broomy landed another hit.**

**_"STOP DOING THAT"_ XChara screamed, hunching over.**

**"Heheheh, I warned ya! Besides, you gotta admit this is fun!"**

**Inks' eyes turned blue as XChara used magic to raise him from the ground.**

**_"I don't care if I kill you, Ink... Not anymore. Did you really think your stupid paintbrush would stop me?"_ XChara laughed. _"HAHA! All of you are so WEAK!!"_ A closer view of XChara's face showed them to be sweating, tiring out from the strain of the battle. **

**If I were You, I wouldn't say that." Ink said as XChara's eyes widened, seeming to realize something.**

**"There's something called 'Creativity and Strategy'" Ink snapped his fingers and the purple paint that had been splashed over XChara formed into chains, tightening enough to hold them, but not harm them.**

**_"WHAT!? NOO!!"_ **

"NO!!" Chara shouted, saying the word in tune with their onscreen self as they banged their fist into the ground.

**"Sans! Now!" Ink commanded Classic, who's eye sockets had been empty and dark. Classic's sockets reignited with light as he raised his arm, engaging in ending the battle, multiple bones formed around XChara's chained form, trapping him.**

**"Look, bud. I dunno what's happening but you don't belong here. You gotta stop this. Now." Classic spoke, sounding tired as each word carried weight. "Please, give me back my soul. I'm sure this artist will help ya."**

Error snorted derisively.

**XChara was kneeling on the ground, staring up at Classic through wide eyes in disbelief.**

**"C, I promise everything will be ok... Let's go home... We'll find a better way to-"**

**Hearing Ink calling him 'C' repeatedly, XChara glared harder, their eyes shining with hatred, trembling ever so slightly in their rage. In the next moment, like a switch was flipped, Cross was sitting there in his place, mumbling lowly to himself. "I just don't wanna die... I just... I need..."**

**_"WE NEED OUR OWN UNIVERSE!"_ XChara was back, an echo following after them. Determination.**

**"NO! WAIT!" Ink moved, understanding what was about to happen. He was too late, they vanished, nothing left but a prison of bones.**

**"This is bad..." Ink said, rubbing the back of his skull as the surface came back into view.**

**Classic stayed silent, and the screen went dark once again.**

The words **'0.0 Complete'** Appeared.

 **'Continue'** and **'End session'** were underneath, but the words **'End Session'** were greyed out, seeming unavailable.

Everyone slowly relaxed, tension unraveling from their rigid forms for all but one.

Chara stared at the dark screen with an unreadable expression, no one knowing the slightest hint of what he were feeling but the one who always knew.


	4. Acceptance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm still on hiatus, but I've decided to do a special update on all my stories for my birthday, which is today, so enjoy!

"Can we leave now?" Error questioned, standing up from his seat.

"Why do-" Outer gets cut off by Dream.

"We watched the whole thing, that was the first part." Dream looked nervous, sitting up straighter as he shifted in discomfort.

"Why do you two want to leave so badly?" Stretch asked, frowning.

"We are not leaving." Core cut in, noting Dream's panicked expression and Error's glitching, filing it away to think on later.

"Brah, it says '0.0', the thing told us to watch the first part, we watched part 0, not the first part." Fresh smirked at Error mockingly, snickering into his hand.

Error glared at Fresh.

"We need to continue." Core spoke calmly, watching as Error sat back down, before turning to the screen, looking thoughtful.

"Is there some button we have to press to start it up?" Outer looked at everyone uncertainly.

"Continue," Chara said absentmindedly, eyes having never left the screen.

The word turned green before disappearing, the official first part starting.

**XChara sat in a world alone, still chained up, staring at the half of Classics soul they took, grinning. This world was different but similar to the white void they'd been in earlier. There was a faint, pale color that remained in this empty world, looking like the colours of a sunrise, the signal of a new day.**

_"Old home, old life,"_ Chara muttered.

**"WE DID IT! HAHAHA!" XChara cheered before calming down, a smile still there. "This is half of the original Sans' soul! Now I have a better idea..." His eyes darkened. "Let's make our OWN UNIVERSE!" Shutting his eyes, he grinned down at the soul like a happy child, as though what he was announcing was the most innocent thing anyone could say. "We don't need to live in a used, boring timeline... We can make this more interesting..." He opened his eyes, staring at the soul in glee. "But first, let's absorb this soul. Are you ready?"**

**"...Yeah..." The person who responded was Cross, who briefly took XChara's place before switching back to XChara's now frowning form.**

**"...What's the matter? Are you..."**

**Cross had his eye sockets shut, opening one calmly. "I'm not sure about this, Chara... Ink was trying to help us... Sans refused to fight... Why do we have to do this?"**

Chara frowned, finally lowering his eyes from the screen as he picked at the carpet, contemplating Cross' words. _"Maybe."_

**"Are you afraid of releasing me?" XChara asked quietly, hands now resting on his knees, eyes shut.**

**Cross didn't respond, staring at the soul.**

**Suddenly, they were both there, XChara in the phantom form everyone could see in the room with them.** _**"I made you a promise, 'Sans'. I promised to be your friend... Those dark days are over. You gave up a long time ago, but not me."** _ **Cross moved a hand to his chest where a heart locket rested, grasping it lightly as XChara's words washed over him.** _**"I'll help you to rebuild the world we lost. We deserve a new Hope."** _

_**The HP Bar was shown now. 0/0. No Health.** _

_"How would that even feel?"_ Deam whispered his thoughts aloud by mistake, hoping no one heard him, but... No health. How would it feel? Did it hurt being that way? Like Death was waiting around the corner... it didn't sound right.

_**"It's what they would have wanted..."** _

_**They were shown a fuzzy memory. Cross smiling down at another person, who was holding onto a flower as they walked towards others, happy.** _

**Cross had a hand hovering underneath the soul. "... Let's just do it." His fist closed around the soul, absorbing it. The HP Bar went up.**

**0.5/0.5**

**Not much, but enough.**

**The chains had fallen, and Cross was now standing, but different. Subtle small changes mixed with larger ones defining him.**

**He looked like he had in the memory mostly. He looked solid, real, and different. It was something different, but he looked somewhat determined. The soul had given him life in more ways than one.**

Chara was staring at Cross, a self-satisfied smile growing on his face. They'd done it, they'd succeeded. Cross had listened to him.

Error frowned, they'd gotten a soul and absorbed it. Ink was no doubt going to kick up a fuss and knowing himself... he'd be seeing Ink soon.

Dream felt a soft brush against his bones, like a breeze. Shifting, he looked around the room, blinking slowly, before turning back to the screen. It was probably nothing. Glancing at Chara, he couldn't help but smile, having to hide it quickly from the others. Everyone was upset with what Cross and Chara had done, all for different reasons, Dream could tell.

Error was annoyed, he'd taken their soul in the first place only for them to find a way around it.

Core was... well... already somewhat irritable. From the moment Classic lost half his soul they'd been more commanding. Definitely not approving of their actions.

Outer and Stretch seemed upset on the principle of it being wrong in many ways.

Fresh, well, he didn't care. He was frowning and smiling at the same time, not seeming to care. Dream didn't have to worry about judgement from him for being glad.

And he was, he was happy. Not because of their actions, but because they were smiling. Both of them, Chara and Cross. He could feel the waves of emotion coming off of Chara, identifying each emotion. Joy, relief, satisfaction, the list went on, they were overflowing with emotions.

Before this moment, their emotions had been locked up, only getting a faint look at the wisps of emotion that escaped the lock. Desperation, anger, loneliness...

Maybe being away from their soul affected them, it wasn't like Ink, who was soulless, telling him that only in confidentiality. It was like muting emotions to a degree, harder to feel, to express. That was it, probably, maybe.

Because of this, for a second, he found himself able to ignore the moral reasoning's, happy for another.

Even if there was an annoying part of him that was questioning why it didn't affect him, the fact... they were Ink's enemy.

**They were now seeing Ink and Classic, still on the surface. They were both sitting, staring down at the ground as they talked.**

**"So... your name's Ink, huh?" Classic asked, eyes shut as he relaxed a bit.**

"Did Classic know about this whole, um, alternate worlds thing before this?" Outer asked curiously.

"Nah, brah. No one messes with the OG." Fresh said, lying on his back and looking at the screen upside down.

**"... Yup. Nice to meet ya." They drifted back into silence, having nothing to say to each other. Ink looked bothered by this, releasing a sigh, he looked over at Classic, sadness in his eyes. "I-I'm so sorry Sans, I never thought this could happen..."**

"OG?"

"Original. The Original World, something like that." Stretch commented

"Would be unrad if it got destroyed or something." Fresh laughed.

**"It's ok bud. I'm not dead... At least not yet." Classic opened his eyes, looking up at the sky oddly before turning to Ink. "Looks like that guy loves to cause trouble."**

**"Actually, this is the first time he's done something like this. He's scared since... Well... It's a long story..." Ink looked away, pouting.**

**Classic looked dryly at him, glancing off to the side, thinking, before sighing in exasperation. "Umm... My bro and the others will arrive in 20 minutes, so I guess we can talk for a-"**

**Ink threw up, Classic looked traumatized.**

**Once done, Ink turned towards Classic excitedly. "DO YOU WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT C!? GREAT!"**

"Who wants to hear more about the guy who stole their soul?" Error grumbled, missing the irony in his statement.

Chara looked disgusted, staring at Ink on the screen.

**Ink coughed, looking embarrassed. "Ehem! Sorry for that, heh... Alright... All started with a simple drop in a far universe...**

_**Everything seemed to be normal. Your Universe and the thousands of existing variations still continued peacefully. Suddenly, I felt the appearance of a new Universe. It had a very strong presence... despite having the sound of dripping water. I couldn't contain my excitement, so I decided to go there. I was eager to meet this new world and its inhabitants... But there was absolutely nothing except for one person.** _

_**...And actually... those drops were his tears. He was very scared. His mind was invaded by horror. He noticed there was someone else ...me. However, soon we broke the ice, and he told me his name. He called himself Cross, the only survivor of a Genocide Run without RESET possibilities."** _

_"That little liar,"_ Chara whispered, glaring up at the screen with hatred glimmering in his eyes. _"That's such_ _ **radicalness**_ _!"_ He blinked, slowly turning their glare to Fresh.

**"Wait a sec... "**

_"Brah, If you're gonna talk like that, you'd better watch who can hear ya. Me and the other broski can hear ya, we're all sittin' on the floor, together."_

**"If he was in a Genocide timeline..."**

_"Since when?"_ Chara asked indignantly. Looking over at everyone behind them, he noted how no one heard their conversation, through lack of reaction. Frowning, he looked at Dream.

Dream kept his eyes on the screen, fear growing in them as he came to a conclusion. If he could hear them, they heard him.

_"Dream?"_

_"The whole time."_ He squeaked, checking if anyone was listening to them, finally joining the conversation. _"It's not a big deal."_

**"where's the human that caused it?" Classic interrupted, suspicious.**

_"We are all talking about this later."_ Chara hissed with finality, ending the conversation.

**Ink opened his eyes sockets, serious. "Chara is sealed inside his body. How did it happen? He never told me...** _**At first, they acted as two separate beings. However, as I visited Cross to keep him company, he won control of both souls. One day, while we were drawing stuff, he stood up. He looked pretty down in the dumps. He told me that a strange child appeared in his world, and tried to convince him to go to a place with other survivors like him."** _

**Ink paused, frown deepening.** _**"He refused to go because he was convinced that his world was still alive. Cross thought he could restore everything with my help."** _ **Ink looked up at the sky. "But when I told him that I can't resurrect the dead...** _**His face** _ **..."**

**"...Yeah?" Classic asked, looking into Ink's dark eye sockets.**

**"...What were we talking about?" Ink asked blankly.**

Stretch wasn't sure what to feel, but he knew he had warning signs going up, telling him something was wrong with this. He hoped the Original Sans could tell something was wrong. If not...

**Classic looked at Ink weirdly, seeming judgmental.**

_**"Anyways... Cross' life points were reduced to zero... Because he wouldn't be lonely anymore...** _

_**But then... One day...** _

_**His soul and Chara's were extracted by Error...** _

Core looked over at Error blankly, wondering if he knew they'd been watching that day and knew it wasn't like that. Ink's tale was false. Would Error tell the others with them this fact? Most likely not. Would Core tell them? ...No...

A glance at Dream made it complicated, he trusted Ink too much.

A glance at Chara hardened their resolve. The world that one came from was always blurred since Ink went there, most events concealed from Core. No, they would keep their information to themselves, for now.

Error was angry, hearing Ink talk. It was wrong. Some facts were the same, but most of it was wrong. He wasn't angry now, he was furious. This had better end soon.

_**When I came back, it was too late... I wanted to save Cross's soul, but I couldn't let his world be destroyed, too... Error took his soul, but he couldn't take the powerful and sadistic determination from Chara. Thanks to that, both were able to keep themselves alive with a deadline. I thought Error, but he got away with the soul, and I was beaten pretty badly. Cross and Chara, both fighting against each other for the control of that corrupted body. When they saw me hurt, they ran away. I could never find them.** _

_"But... if Error has their soul already..."_ Dream trailed off, looking over at Fresh and Chara. They'd all moved closer when they'd been talking before, still leaving a gap between themselves but not by much. It wasn't intentional, but it now gave them the advantage to be sure the others wouldn't hear them talking to each other.

_"Why'd it take him so long to find me?"_ Chara asked, turning to stare at Dream, contemplating something as they spoke each word carefully. _"Why'd he appear after the soul was taken? We weren't exactly hiding, and it's already been a week for me. So tell me, what was with the convenient timing? Almost like he was... waiting."_

Dream turned his head away from Chara, sadly looking down as their words from earlier and now combined alongside his own questions.

_Don't trust that liar._

_**After that, Cross and Chara teleported to your timeline and, somehow, intersected their world with yours to take your place before dying... Spending their last few minutes in a world they once had. Now I realize this Chara got to convince Cross...** _ **Maybe he pretends to use that half of your soul to keep themselves alive, but, he's scheming something else." Ink shut his sockets with a deep sigh. "Someone capable of manipulating a monster's body with that twisted mind... It could be difficult trying to stop them." Ink stood up, surprising Classic. "I have to admit that I can't stop them by myself... I know this isn't the right thing to do, but... Sans..." Ink looked down at Sans. "I need your help to find Cross... Would you like to come with me?"**

"Is he that dumb?" Error sounded blunt, staring at the Ink on the screen. This wasn't right, it was... Oh. Another one of those blasted games. That's what it was, what it must be.

**Classic looked away, thoughtful for a moment before replying with a chuckle. "...Heh, sorry bud, but no. Actually, I think I can live with this... It doesn't worry me at all."**

"He's forgetful, not dumb." Dream absentmindedly shot back, finding it odd how he was having a rather civil discussion with Error of all people.

**"Oh... That's ok! I get it. I was the one who let this happen..." Ink grasped hold of Broomy once more. "...So, I'll do my best to fix this and bring back your soul." He winked. "Welp. I have to go now. Have a nice day with all your friends!" Swiping Broomy along the ground, paint trailing after, left a small puddle, which Ink proceeded to jump into, disappearing from sight.**

**"Huh... This is too weird..."**

**"SANS!" Classic turned, seeing his approaching brother and friends. "There you are, brother! Are you ready for our magnificent picnic?" Papyrus asked, Undyne trailing after him, the others further away.**

**Classic glanced at the paint before shaking his head, smiling. "...Sure! Let's go, bro."**


	5. Portal Portla Snap Boom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured I'd update at least one of my stories this month, and for some reason, you all love this, so why not update it!

**Cross stood in the empty world, arms crossed in thought. "So... other Alternative Universes exist?"**

"He was in one like an hour ago." Chara groaned, dropping his face into the carpet, feeling exasperated with Cross not even a minute into hearing the conversation.

 _**"Isn't it wonderful?"** _ **XChara asked, phantom form floating beside Cross, a childlike smile on his face.** _**"While you were spending all your time talking to your buddy Ink, I decided to analyze these Alternate Universes. There are a lot of worlds that we can 'visit' ... but I'm only interested in a few of them."** _

Outer glanced at Chara before looking at Stretch, realizing that if they were here, their worlds would be paid a 'visit' as well.

**"Heh. You're a very clever guy despite being just a dying piece of determination."**

"You're still dying?" Outer asked, "I thought-"

"Our soul was part human, part monster, we got the monster part, not the human part." Chara interrupted. "It'd need to be a version of myself, since that's the most acceptable version, _even if Cross won't get it for me. He'd rather I die_."

 _**"Stop showing off your new soul!"** _ **XChara pouted.**

Stretch sat up suddenly, looking down at Chara with wide eyes. He was here, meaning his world would be involved. A human soul was needed, specifically of a version of this Chara, so not from a Frisk. His world was one of the very, very few where the Chara had a soul. That brought him to one dreaded conclusion, his Chara was in danger, and without their soul, his world could collapse.

**"Now tell me, how are we going to get to the next world if we don't know any routes?" Cross asked, looking at XChara for their response.**

**XChara stared blankly ahead.**

_"You don't know, do you?"_ Dream smiled.

 _"Something that will be different by next time."_ Chara groaned.

 _"Doubt it Brah."_ Fresh snickered.

**"I DON'T WANT TO STAY DOING NOTHING!" Cross screamed, eyes glowing red and purple. "I WANT MY WORLD BACK! I WANT TO LIVE IN PEACE LIKE THEM!"**

Dream flinched, feeling the emotions faintly. If he could feel them from the screen, they were incredibly strong emotions. Negative emotions. He wasn't looking forward to seeing Nightmare, not now.

Chara's eyes widened, hearing Cross talk like that was... was...

Was this what they sounded like? Was this how bad they'd get?

**Cross suddenly calmed down, looking to the side to see Nightmare standing beside him, looking around the void. "Seems like you're not happy for some reason. I can feel it. May I help you with that?"**

Dream sighed, emotions bouncing off of him as he saw his brother, both his own emotions and everyone else's. Whenever something big happened, or someone new appeared, it was like everyone's emotions were more compelling, and he couldn't help examining them.

Core felt pity, directed towards Dream.

Error was annoyed, he tended to avoid Nightmare.

Outer was confused, but suspicious, that soon turned to shock, as Dream saw Stretch tell him something, probably their relation. He remembers Blue told Stretch a while ago and now he was passing the information along. Great.

Stretch's emotions were muddled, pity, anger... He didn't know who Stretch was angry at.

He could never get a read on Fresh, and Chara's emotions were locked up again, small things like curiosity escaping.

Seeing Nightmare, Dream found it funny he couldn't identify his own feelings.

**"...Have you anything to do with Ink or Error?"**

**Nightmare smiled mockingly, "How rude! I'm offering my help, and you attack me with stupid questions. No. I have nothing to do with them. I found you thanks to your negative feelings."**

Dream sat up. If Nightmare found him and the negative emotions were so powerful that he could feel them here, then he probably sensed it as well in that time.

**"Can you move through positive feelings too?"**

"Can you?" Outer asked Dream.

"Yeah, I can get anywhere as long as there's some positivity." Dream responded, still rigid and staring at the screen with bated breath. If he showed up... He didn't want to watch himself fight his brother. Not yet, not...

**"Ha! Why should I do it? Beings who are happy are fine on their own! Beings like YOU are the ones who need my help."**

"Is that his way of saying he can't?" Chara asked with a smirk.

**"Pacifist worlds don't deserve to be happy either..." Cross replied, listening to XChara as he whispered something to him.**

**"Ah. I like your intentions... Well, I guess I can give you the ability to access any AU you want... But I want one thing in exchange. Wherever you go, I want you to hurt somebody, but not physically. You know what I'm talking about."**

**"Heh. Deal."**

_"That's not fair."_ Dream whined to himself.

"He sounds like one of those, what do you call it?" Chara snapped his fingers. "Guides? Instruction manuals?"

**Cross summoned a giant knife, grinning now. "I'll try to be careful."**

**The view changed to show someone walking, someone else was in the empty world.**

"Dream is that..."

**The view shifted, showing the fourth occupant of the room to appear on the screen. Dream was walking at a slow pace, looking around the empty world before realizing he wasn't alone. Turning his head, he began to speak, "Uh, hi, I'm..." Dream stopped talking, eyes widening at the sight of Nightmare and Cross, who still had his knife out, talking with their backs turned to him.**

Dream sighed in relief, slumping back into a more relaxed position. They were turned away from him, which meant he was lucky. There shouldn't be a fight, right?

 **Dreams hands flew up to his mouth as he started whispering to himself.** _**"Nightmare? It can't be-!"** _ **He shook his head before taking a step back.** _**"I must tell Ink immediately!"** _ **Snapping his fingers, Dream disappeared from the world in a ray of stars.**

"Hey, hang on!" Stretch sat up, having realized something. "You can teleport to other worlds, who else in this room can do that?"

"Me and Error," Core spoke, tapping a finger against their cheek. "I believe it's only us three. Fresh has traveled, but he doesn't make the portals, so that doesn't count."

**"IT'S TIME TO PLAY VOLLEYBALL! NYEHEHEH!" Papyrus picked up the volleyball with a determined look.**

"Straight." Fresh nodded to himself. "Have ya tried makin' a portal?"

Dream blinked to himself before snapping his fingers. "Have now."

"The fact I am in a physical form was enough for me to know I wouldn't be able to."

"I wouldn't be here if I could!"

**There were two teams, team one was Papyrus, Classic, and Frisk, while the second team was Undyne, Asgore, and Alphys.**

**"NGAAHHAHAAH! MY TEAM WILL WIN THIS TIME!" Undyne was given the volleyball as she spoke. "We've been training every day to defeat you, punks!"**

**"YOU CANNOT WIN, UNDYNE!" Papyrus had an arm wrapped around Classic's shoulder, whose eye lights had gone out, while Frisk stared blankly at them**

"Should he be playing that?" Outer asked in concern for the other version of himself.

**"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, have a strategic and invincible team!" Frisk looked down as Classic clenched his fists, arms glitching.**

"Definitely not." Error spoke quietly, looking unnerved at Classic glitching.

**Undyne jumped into the air with a grin, volleyball tearing through the net as she shot with all her might. Papyrus looked shocked as he and Frisk ran out of the way, but Classic stayed as it sailed straight towards him. Classic wasn't paying attention, eye lights still out as he looked down at the ground.**

**"SANS! WATCH OUT!" Alphys screamed out, but it was too late. The volleyball hit Classic, who fell back, looking for all purposes dead.**

"He can't die just like that, right?" Chara tilted his head, smothering a laugh at the thought of death by volleyball.

**Classic's world turned white as all sound evaporated. His view glitched as for a split second he saw two others before his view returned, eye lights back on.**

"This shindig will be over if he knocks out," Fresh answered bluntly, noting the two figures seen by Classic, that few seemed to notice.

**"SANS! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Papyrus cried, kneeling beside his brother as Undyne ran over.**

**"Uh..." Classic glanced at Papyrus before sitting up. "Sorry. I was distracted..." He winced as he put a hand to his skull. "Maybe I need a break, can I, bro?"**

**"Of course, brother, but don't fall asleep! We need you to win this game!"**

**"Ok, bro." Sans stood up, giving a thumbs up to Papyrus, he started walking away. Frisk watched him go before running after him, determined.**

"Is he gonna..."

**Sans teleported to the paint Ink had left through, panting, he brought out his soul. It was different. An 'X' went across his remaining half.**

**"Wh-what's happening...?"**

"Never seen that before." Error commented, looking slightly curious as he took in the state of the soul.

**"Ink? Are you there?" Classic questioned as he turned to look at the paint. "C'mon, pal! Please answer me!"**

"That idiot." Error groaned, sinking further into his seat.

**"...Sans," Frisk spoke up, revealing themselves.**

**Classic looked up but didn't turn around, eye lights going out as he dreaded the next question.**

**"...Who is Ink?"**

Fresh shook his head, frowning at Classic being caught so easily.

**"...I should keep looking for you, Cross..." Ink looked grim, floating in his doodle sphere, eye lights continuously changing shape and colour. He was staring at the piece of paper with an 'X' on it, indicating Cross' world. "But... Your universe is so lonely... and... quiet..." He reached out an arm towards the paper before moving back, clenching his fist. "Ugh, why is this so difficult? Come on, Ink!" Ink crossed his arms, smirking to himself. "You're the Guardian of AUs! You can handle it! You'll find Cross in a blink!"**

"Inflated Ego." Error grumbled to himself, taking no notice of the looks he received as he insulted Ink in many ways.

**Suddenly Dream appeared in front of the paper, having come from that world, arms outstretched as he floated straight towards Ink. "IIIIINNK!" He screamed before crashing into Ink, resulting in Ink clutching his skull as gravity floated him away while Dream watched.**

Dream ducked his head in shame as Error burst out into glitched laughter, Chara, sadly having a similar reaction to his soul thief, did the same. Fresh snickered to himself alongside Outer and Stretch while Core tried to smother their giggles. Dream did not raise his head again.

**"OUCH! D-DREAM!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" Ink shouted, looking at Dream through one socket as tears pricked at his eyes.**

Error continued laughing. "I'll give you whatever you want to do that again and record it with me there!"

**"I saw something horrible in that AU!" Dream waved his arms up and down in panic. "I felt a negative feeling, and I was ready to help...! But my brother Nightmare was already there! And that guy had a giant knife! They made an alliance and a promise, and- and- !"**

Error fell back in his chair, seemingly starting to suffocate as his laughter grew.

"It's not that funny." Dream defended himself with a whine, glancing up at the screen before ducking his head again.

"It is!" Error wheezed out before collapsing again.

**"Calm down, Dream!" Ink put a firm hand on Dream's shoulder, who looked at it, turning silent. "Are you saying that... you saw Cross?" Ink asked, looking steadily at Dream.**

**Dream looked away slightly before responding. "My brother will help him to teleport to any AU that has a pacifist timeline... He's planning to hurt everybody!"**

Outer frowned, his human hadn't shown up yet... Would his world even get a pacifist timeline?

**Ink shut his sockets before looking up, face set in a frown. "...Thanks, Dream. That will make it easier for me to catch him." Ink turned away, casting a glance around the doodle sphere.**

**"Ink, wait! I want to go with you!"**

Chara and Dream tensed, casting long considering looks at each other.

**"I can't let hopes and dreams from those worlds get destroyed... I would never forgive myself!"**

Stretch glanced at Dream, then Chara. Briefly, he'd met Dream, he knew that was true. Dream would never forgive himself.

**"I'm sorry, Dream..." Ink looked over his shoulder at Dream, no expression. "We're fighting together to protect the AUs... But this time I won't put your life in risk. You saved me once. Now it's time to pay you back."**

Core and Error both tensed, taking those words very seriously. He was... protecting Dream. During this time, they'd both noticed Ink was up to something, now they knew. He was keeping Dream out of it while he could.

A glance at Dream showed their suspicions weren't unfound. Dream was shaking his head, body rigid as he stared at his onscreen self.

**"...I..." Dream trailed off, the silence surrounding them before a voice resounded around the doodle sphere.**

**"...Sans?" Ink questioned, smiling to himself, he turned to Dream, starting to speak while the world went dark.**

**"Uh, this is awkward..." Ink spoke, standing behind Classic as he glared down at Frisk.**

Outer shot up into a seated position as everyone started speaking at once, having despite the tension, started to doze off.

"Wait!"

"Did we miss something?"

"It just cut out their conversation!"

"That's uncool. What'd we miss?"

"It skipped something are you kiddin' me!?"

"Who's conversation?"

"Dream and Inks as well as Classic and the human's you numbskull!"

**"There you are, Ink." Classic turned to Ink with a calm, lazy grin. "I've decided to go with you."**

"IS HE STUPID!?"

"Calm down, brah."

"He's not dumb."

"SHUT UP!" Chara screeched, sending a scathing glare at anyone who opened their mouths.

**"W-What!? Are you serious?" Ink questioned before remembering Frisk was there. "...uh... H-Hey pal..."**

**Frisk asked Ink why Sans had to leave.**

**"...I guess I have to tell ya everything, huh. C'mere." Classic winked, glancing at Ink, who still had his arms raised awkwardly.**

Dream smiled as he watched his friend interact with Frisk, he made odd impressions on different people.

**Ink sat off to the side as Classic talked to Frisk, drawing something in a notepad with his tongue stuck out in concentration.**

**Ink looked up from his drawing as he overheard Frisk's words, an odd look passing his face as the viewers got a look at what Ink was drawing while his eye lights flickered a different color again.**

" _That's!_ " Chara choked slightly, shaking in rage.

Error tensed at the confirmation of one of his theories, silently stewing in his own rage. When they left this place, he was going to destroy every single world Ink had created. Except maybe Outertale, for umm, personal... reasons. He may spare Underswap too but as a favor to… someone…

**"... Promise me you'll come back."**

**"Heh. You know I hate to make promises but..." Classic smiled down at Frisk. "I'll try."**

**Frisk smiled back before reaching into their pocket and pulling out a ketchup bottle, passing it to Classic. "Maybe this will be useful."**

**"Cool. Thanks, Frisk." Classic stashed the ketchup in an inside pocket of his jacket.**

**As Sans started to say goodbye, Frisk hugged him tightly. "Please, take care of yourself..." They stepped back, revealing they'd put a locket around Sans' neck. "...Because..."**

Chara grasped lightly at his neck, a sad look crossing his face.

**"...'Cause someone really cares about you... Yeah..." Classic finished with a soft smirk as he walked towards Ink.**

**"You don't have to do this, Sans." Ink commented as Classic walked past him.**

**"If I'm gonna die because of Cross... I prefer that my family doesn't see me become dust."**

Chara didn't understand. How could things get so much worse in one month? Classic wasn't supposed to die. In reality, Chara was still trying to convince Cross on his way of thinking, but the idiot was drowning in his sorrows. For what Chara had planned out so far, Classic wasn't supposed to dust, not now, not ever. Not when they couldn't reverse it.

**Ink looked down, guilty before the expression disappeared, not having been there for even a full second. Classic and Ink turned towards a smiling Frisk, sending back their own forced smiles and teleporting away...**

**In another world, Nightmare teleported in with Cross, appearing near the doors to the ruins. "Here we are. The first pacifist timeline. People are a bit rude, but they managed to be happy thanks to a little human and a stupid flower."**

**"Thanks, Nightmare."**

**Nightmare started to turn away before giving one parting comment. "...Have fun."**

**With that, Cross stood alone, knife in hand, he stared ahead, and in a smooth motion raised the weapon, glaring. In the distance, a skeleton turned to look behind themselves in the direction Cross was, as though knowing he was coming. This skeleton revealed themselves as a Sans, the Sans of Underfell.**

**The screen turned dark, episode complete.**

"Underfell." Core nodded to themselves, thoughtful. "That's... troubling."

"Finally!" Everyone turned towards Error and saw... an open portal.

Error grinned to himself, walking forwards... he slammed straight into it. "WHAT!?"

Fresh and Chara started snickering to themselves as Dream spoke up, snapping his fingers with no results apart from a small spark of magic. "So, when it said we could leave the room after the first part..." Dream trailed off with a deadpanned expression.

Core stood up and started pacing the room as they pieced together what was happening. "We can't go through any portals we make. Only Dream and Error can make portals to other worlds alongside me. None of us can pass through. We couldn't make portals before, but now that part one is over, we can."

"You just can't go through them." Stretch sighed, taking another glance at Error as he started opening multiple portals.

"None of us can pass through... None of us can leave..." Core twisted the ends of their puffy sweater tightly, expression twitching as a wave of emotion overcame them before the usual disconnected feeling clicked back into place like an old friend.

"Then let's watch the rest now, and then we can leave," Outer suggested lightly, looking put out at his own suggestion.

"We are also not continuing." Core stated as they took in a shuddering breath, moving to stand in front of the TV, hardening their resolve.

"I'm sorry, what?" Dream asked bluntly, looking unamused as he absentmindedly kept snapping his fingers, hoping for the slightest chance to leave.

"We have been brought here to see the future. If we go through it all tonight expecting to go back to our worlds once we're done, what would the point have been?" Core looked at each of them, eyes resting on Dream and Error longest, who looked uncomfortable and annoyed with this. Dream stopped snapping his fingers. "If we are doing this, willingly or not, we will do it correctly."

"How about _no_?" Chara drew the words out, laying on his back without a care in the world despite the bite to his clipped words. "You've seen what happens so far. I've only got a month left, I'm not interested in spending it here, _with you._ "

"You heard me when I read the note. Time moves _differently_ here." Core responded, face scrunching up as they looked at Chara.

"In what way?" Fresh asked "like, brah, they didn't say. Brutal."

"Do you mean... faster or slower?" Outer pipes up "Which way is time moving?"

Fresh shot finger guns at Outer, who took it as a 'yes'.

"Shouldn't it be slower? Why bother showing us any of this if in a month we get back and it's happening?" Stretch's lazy grin faltered briefly. "That'd be messed up."

"So entirely plausible." Stretch looked blankly at Error for his remark, contemplating something. Most likely whether it was worth the effort to get up and hit the destroyer or not.

"Let's continue, but with an 'open mind', is that good enough for you?"

Core frowned, face scrunching up as they pondered their situation before nodding slowly. "This includes Error, Chara, and Dream."

"It includes all of you," Stretch muttered with a sigh as the screen lit up once more, giving them precious seconds to prepare for the coming war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief Update: I'm still technically on Hiatus. I haven't done any writing since the end of September, and I already had this chapter prepared, so all I did today was some small editing. I honestly don't know what's going on anymore. I have a couple of health issues that are becoming more of a problem lately and coupled with the stress of doing exams, everything is... slow.  
> But I know for sure I'll update on Christmas! That's a definite!  
> Thank you for reading this random update, I hope it allows you to understand a little more about what's going on, and thanks for reading this!


	6. Welcome to Underfell, my friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couldn't go through with angst, I'm in a Christmas/New year mood, just try and complain.

**"I thought that by being your friend... I could fix what happened that day..."**

"Yeah, as if." Chara snorted, a derisive smirk growing on his face as Core giggled.

It was oddly calming for him…

**Now in Underfell's version of Snowdin, Classic laid on his stomach, fast asleep with a face full of snow.**

"Laziness for the win!" Outer high-fived Stretch as Dream and Chara laughed, the others merely looking amused.

**"Psst!" Ink popped up from behind a bush, mouth hovering near his skeletal mouth to ensure his voice would reach Classic. "Hey, Sans! Wake up!"**

"What is that idiot doing now?" 

Error loved insulting Ink, mainly when he was pissed off with the squid.

**"ZZZ... just five more minutes..." Classic smiled, snuggling deeper into his pillow of snow, breathing pattern slowing down as he slowly fell asleep before he abruptly jolted upright. "WOW WAIT A MINUTE IS THIS SNOW!? WHERE ARE WE!?"**

"Lazy." Error, again.

"Aren't we all?"

Outer and Stretch shared another high-five.

“I don’t think _I’m_ lazy…” Dream pouted, turning his gaze to Chara. “Am I?”

“We just met.” He deadpanned before pointing to themselves with a proud look. “But I’m defiantly the most hard-working here!”

“Debatable.”

**"THIS PLACE IT CAN'T BE...!!"**

**"Pfft calm down, pal." Ink's dull, deadpan expression brightened as he grinned and waved his hands slightly. "This is not your Snowdin. Welcome... to UNDERFELL!"**

"Dramatic squid."

**"Aaand why are you hiding there?" Classic's weirded out expression caused Ink to freeze before somehow putting on a solemn facade.**

**"I must prevent myself from being seen in any AU for everybody's sake."**

"He looks so **funking** smug." Error growled.

"We're like, what, a minute in? How have you insulted him so many times?" Dream questioned incredulously, smiling despite the situation.

"What can I say, I'm a genius." Error shrugged helplessly.

"No, you're not."

"Then why did you ask me in the first place!?" Error raged, calming somewhat as Dream started laughing, and he decided to not comment further. He rarely got to talk to Dream without too much tension being in the air, it was... nice.

 _"And he says Ink is smug."_ Chara scoffed.

**"If you had done that with Cross, none of this would be happening, and I wouldn't be here, with only half a soul," Classic sighed, a melancholy air surrounding him. "and so far from home..."**

"This is the first time I'm away from home, I've never experienced much." Outer sighed sadly.

"You can visit my world, and I'll visit yours?" Stretch offered, "It'd be interesting to see space."

"Thanks, I'd like to see the underground." Outer smiled, wondering what he'd show Stretch from his world and how similar they could be.

**"...Sorry?" Ink offered an awkward smile as he realized Classic had been talking, not having heard a single word in his daydreaming.**

**"Nothing. Nothing." Classic turned away, tired.**

Dream beamed as he absently swung his legs up and down.

Ah, Ink was so socially awkward. Dream could remember the many visits to new AU’s where Ink would leave such _lasting_ impressions, it was always a good laugh. 

Maybe he could arrange a trip with both Ink and Blue sometime after this mess was over, it'd been a while since they'd all hung out together just for each other’s company. 

**"So… Cross came to this place?" Classic changed the subject as Ink climbed out of the bush and stood beside Classic, who was eyeing their new world carefully.**

**"I hope so." He responded, expression briefly going blank as his smile slipped. "This world is living a Pacifist Timeline despite... many problems."**

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chara asked with a tilt of their head.

**"But I'm sure Nightmare brought him to this place." Ink's voice was oddly light considering the implications of what he was saying.**

**"K. Let's go then." Classic's voice echoed as the two disappeared, teleporting their way through Snowdin.**

"If he doesn't like the stupid AU, he could just let me destroy it," Error sunk deeper into his seat, grumbling to himself, "but nooo, Ink has to play the hero. Stupid, waiting for someone like Nightmare to come and destroy it, bleh."

“Sticking your tongue out is rude.” Core chided in a teasing manner.

“Shut up.”

**The two passed multiple locations showing the damage caused by Cross before a voice called out to them and Ink hid in another bush.**

"Such coming destruction." Core murmured as they picked at a loose strand of thread, attempting to calculate the probability of Underfell surviving the coming storm. "It's overwhelming how much of an impact this will have."

"I wouldn't call THAT destruction!" Error sputtered as Core turned to him, unamused. "That's more like, uh, vandalism?" More looks were sent his way as Error huffed. "Either way, it's not impressive, a kid can do that in their sleep!"

**"YO!! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOIN' SANS!?"**

**Classic turned, sweat forming as he faced two monsters of Underfell. "Why are you wearing those weird clothes? Snowdin is going down, jerk!"**

"What is this?" Chara sweatdropped, one of the few still watching the screen.

"So, your jobs not hard at all?" Outer asked Error with innocence surrounding his entire being. 

"How useless." Stretch snorted.

"WHO SAID **THAT**!?"

**The two monsters left, and Ink approached Classic again. "YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!"**

**"What's the matter? The people here are jerks." Classic deadpanned with an air of acceptance surrounding him as his body glitched.**

"Go with the flow, Classic, go with the flow." Fresh spoke in a sing-song tone before joining the other conversation again. "Does that mean I can do your job too, ma broski?" Fresh hoped to his feet, and he pointed to the skies in a hero pose. "Wassup, New God of Destruction here, ready to blow you awa-HEY!" 

"Oh look," Error drawled as he scooped his pillow up from the floor, pointedly ignoring Fresh's choked laughter. "a pillow works just as well to shut you up."

"You-" Outer's body shook as he struggled to breathe through his own laughter, collapsing on top of Strech, who was holding up no better than him, Outer tried and failed to complete his sentence. "You guys-"

**"Wow. What was that?" Classic stared at his hands as Ink frowned.**

**"...Cross... What are you trying to do now...?"**

"Are all missing the show." Chara finished, rolling his eyes as he puffed out his cheeks. "Honestly, how childish."

"Isn't that the real show?" Dream pointed behind them at the laughing group, eyes never leaving the screen. "I wish we could pause this."

"I wish we could pause them." 

"Funny."

"I'm serious."

"No one in this room is serious, not now, not ever."

"When did you start acting like... well, like me."

"Who knows."

"You're weird." Chara shifted closer to Dream, head now resting inches from his arm, a warm look in both their eyes.

They weren’t so different when it came down to it.

**The scene changed to Cross, dragging a knife through the snow and making his way through Snowdin. Not even a glance spared for the monsters that fled at the sight of him.**

"And this is Underfell..." Core's voice was tinged with a hint of disappointment.

**"Huh." Cross stared at the one monster that didn't run from him, staying put. "You're in my way... Get outta here."**

"Did spending all that time with the squid make him have an ego?" Error's sarcasm was laced with truth.

**The screen panned to show the offender, Underfell's very own version of Sans.**

**"Wow. What do we have here..." Fell's body remained relaxed as he put his hands in his pockets, a grin on his face. "Hey, fluffy asshole. Nice knife."**

"I'm calling him that the next time I see him!" Chara guffawed, tears leaking from his eyes.

"Bruh, we're all calling him that now!" Fresh beamed, glasses almost slipping off his face, which Dream hastily stopped from happening.

"Careful." Dream warned in a chiding tone.

"Sorry, broski bro."

**"...What did you call me?" Cross asked in disbelief as XChara hovered behind him, looking befuddled.**

**"Ha. Whatev. Waddya want? You made a pretty big mess out of Snowdin..." Fell gestured briefly to the ~~destruction~~ vandalism Cross had done before bursting into laughter. "PFFFHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" He turned away from Cross to scream at the monsters hiding in the woods. "ALL OF YOU ARE COWARDS, HIDING LIKE IDIOTS!! HAHAHA!! LOOK AT YOURSELVES! _EVERYBODY SUCKS!!"_**

"Can anyone get a Pacifist Timeline, I mean, _how!?_ " The more Outer watched, the less he worried about his own world. If these guys could get a Pacifist Timeline, it couldn't be that hard, right?

**"Interesting guy living in this Pacifist timeline..." XChara commented as Cross sweatdropped.**

**"...Disgusting." Cross raised his weapon high, strengthening his resolve in the process, he threw it.**

**"Huh?" Fell looked down at his clothes, a noticeable tear where the blade almost sliced his arm. "Let's just get straight to the point." His eyelights flickered out of existence, the color red appearing as he prepared for battle.**

"Battle!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lost some files, don't know how that happened.  
> Either way, I decided to change this chapter a lot and leave the battle for another time because I need fluff, I'm in too good of a mood to handle the angst and serious stuff. Blame Christmas, my mood keeps doing flips.  
> MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! <3


	7. 10 times, count the lockets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this on... Sunday, and stayed up till 6 am to finish. In case you can't tell, I'm an amateur at writing battle scenes, even describing them is awkward. The first draft for this chapter was me just going 'Ink escaped, Cross shot blast' and it sounded ridiculously dumb so I re-edited it another 20 times. Thank god I didn't try to do Glitchtale or I'd be screwed.  
> So, yeah, I basically said hell no to sleep because I couldn't stop, so I really hope you enjoy this.   
> (Even if I personally feel like I added too many reactions)

**"Your human... Is trying so hard to befriend all of you, right?" Cross turned away from his glitching hand to stare at Fell. "...But they won't be able to fight against someone who doesn't care about any timeline... Coming from elsewhere... ruining everything and causing pain and suffering forever... someone like ME." Fell's eyelights shrunk as he pictured the possibilities. "...Will your human dare to start a new Pacifist Timeline again if I become apart of this universe?"**

"You're not helping your case if you want us not to stop you when we leave here." Core pointed out with a helpless sigh.

"That's just Cross being dumb. You try spending your time in a corrupt world, and then enjoy a couple of months with no one but Ink for company, maybe get your soul stolen, and then get back to me." 

"Straight."

"Shut up, Fresh."

**"I need some resources to rebuild my world. And I've chosen this place." Cross gestured to their surroundings. "So you can see if your stupid human will be able to keep you happy in a shattered world... no matter how many resets they try..."**

Chara grimaced, digging his fingers into his arms.

No matter what they did, they never got their own freedom. It'd be hilarious if this world managed it. Hell, maybe every world but theirs could be free. If the creatures of this world could have a Pacifist Timeline, why couldn't their world have that? 

_why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why_... _why is it all so **unfair**_...

 _**"You'll accept that your world is mine now."** _ **Cross' words reverberated as his eyelights glowed ominously. _"And that not one of their useless friends will try to stop me. So, get outta my way."_**

**"...Nah." Fell's frown turned into a twisted grin. "Do it if ya want. This is a Pacifist Timeline, we monsters and the human will still be friends, giving them love... and LOVE heheh... But I'll try to be nice and change your mind, buddy." He raised his arms, twisted grin growing sharper. "There's so much corny happiness and all, so, if you want, I can share it a little with ya. WE CAN HAVE A GREAT TIME"**

"Battle!" Fresh smiled like a kid in a candy store, doing a drumroll with his fingers. "Opponent number one, Fluffy guy and my radical broseph, Phantom Chara, facing Opponent number two... eh... that dude!"

"Seriously, what is wrong with you." Error held a pillow in his hands, his only defense against the parasite tried anything.

God, he hated that parasite.

Chara's lips twitched into a smile.

 _**"Hum. It's a shame we can't kill this one,"** _ **Chara crossed his arms as Cross readied his weapon, exchanging the knife for a bone. "I know."**

**They both disappeared as Cross ran at their enemy, slamming Fell into a tree, only for him to instantly recover and strike Cross.**

**Classic, who was nowhere near the battle looked down at his chest, an odd expression growing on his face.**

**"Sans?"**

"You've really screwed up!" Error guffawed, glitches increasing the more he laughed.

"What?" Chara growled, "How'd we screw up?"

"Your soul, being also Classic's soul, has linked you all together." Core's expression was hidden, eyes giving off the impression of bottomless pits as they stared at Chara. "He gets injured, you get injured, it's all the same in the end."

**"Look, pal. My Boss is helping the human. When they come back and see all the disaster, I'll be in trouble. So, please... you gotta leave."**

**Cross tried to respond, trying to catch his breath as he did. "Ha... ha... are you being me for mercy? You're not as rude as you seem-"**

Chara wondered briefly if this Sans wasn't even slightly intimidated by them. In fact, they, Fell, seemed to care more about whoever their Boss was than the fight.

He couldn't exactly blame them. Fell looked completely fine while they... they looked pathetic.

It hurt just to look at the screen.

**Fell beamed with an overwhelming amount of malice.**

_**"CROSS!! WATCH OUT!!"** _ **XChara screamed as Cross was impaled with a bone.**

"Are you okay?" Dream asked Chara, concerned as ever.

Chara didn't respond with words, a sharp nod was all Dream got, but Chara appreciated the... what would the term be? Sentiment... right? Or was it something else...

Something like that hadn't meant anything to them in a long time.

**"Ugh..." Classic hunched over as Ink hovered around him, concerned.**

Outer leaned against Stretch's side, a sad smile on his face.

He was so used to smiling. 

Sad smiles, tired smiles, happy smiles... Who was he without a smile? Haha, Outer wondered if by the end of this all he'd be left with a permanent frown. Optimism is something Outer has always been good at, but watching Classic hunch over in pain, watching this horrible future overall, why was smiling so **funking** painful?

**"Get... dunked on! HAHAHAHAHA" Fell took a step forward, taking pleasure in Cross' dumbfounded expression as he stared at the bone sticking in his side. "You're so stupid... Here, it's still 'Kill or be Killed'"**

"Who said we even knew what world we're in," Chara complained, thinking back to the first scene that showed how they arrived in Underfell. "I'm pretty sure the octopus dropped us in the first world he thought of."

"D-Don't call him an octopus." Dream covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing, remorse in his eyes. "I shouldn't laugh..."

**"While the human may not realize that... Anyone can kill anytime! You look like me, and I don't wanna know where you come from, but, man, you're so pathetic! You made a mistake coming here and bothering me. Just go dust yourself. Bye."**

"This glitch is actually entertaining, but he's more Nightmare's type of monster." Error pulled out his strings and started making a puppet. He could tell a battle was coming, and he couldn't care less.

**Cross gripped the bone, not even hesitating as he yanked it out his side.**

**"Wh-what!?"**

**"Actually, we're hurting someone else right now... We're doing well." Cross smiled, eyelights dissipating from sight. "That's the rule of this world... ha... HAHAHA," XChara flashed into existence as Cross' eyelights turned red. _"... THAT MEANS IT WILL BE FINE IF I KILL YOU!!"_ **

** H a c k - a c t i v a t e d  ** ****

**"...Where are the knives?" Forming the knife again, they attacked.**

"So you're fighting now, eh?" 

Stretch wished he didn't have such a soft spot for versions of Chara, it'd erase this instinctual need to _save_ them.

**Fell dodged twice, struggling against ~~Cross~~ XChara's speed. "Holy shit!"**

**Dodging again, he finally managed to form a counterattack, only for the bones to be cut into pieces.**

**Growling, Fell formed a Blaster, gaping as it was destroyed.**

**"PEOPLE LIKE YOU WILL NEVER DESERVE A HAPPY ENDING!!" The ground flashed red as ~~Cross XChara~~ they turned Fell's soul Blue and raised him high in the air, preparing their final struck, one eyelight red and the other now a deep purple.**

**"Wh-What the hell are you!?"**

**"I AM THE X-EVENT"**

"Who's saying that?" Dream whimpered as he pressed his hands to the sides of his skull. "I can't... I can't hear-"

"I don't know who's in control." Chara's eyes were wide. None of this was good.

Core's face scrunched up as they tilted their head. Purple... Or is it more lilac? The eyelights expressed control, so... maybe it was purple, but lilac seemed more fitting, softer... Maybe...maybe it wasn't that fitting.

**Before the final strike, a third party interrupted, with a blaster, causing them to drop the knife.**

**The third-party turned out to be Classic and Ink finally arriving at the scene.**

**"Did you... absorb his soul..." Classic looked exhausted, blood dripping from his mouth as Ink raged. "CROSS!! THAT'S ENOUGH!!"**

"A never-ending parade of interruptions." Chara facepalmed. What were the chances of another twenty versions of Sans showing up? Chara figured that at this rate, there'd be a hundred showing up just to make their life worse.

 ~~ **They**~~ **Cross crossed his arms, ignoring Fell for the moment. "Hello, my old friend... I knew you would come after me. Do you like what I'm doing?" Cross' eyelights were back to normal, one red and one white. A classic look. "I know you do... you support people who create new AUs... and I'm creating my own. _C'MON INK, INK!! LET'S CELEBRATE MY WORLD'S REBIRTH!!"_**

Error snorted, finding his own twisted amusement in the situation. "Can't argue against that logic."

"Bruh, that's not how it works." Fresh deadpanned, wishing he had something to do like Error did. The destroyer wasn't the only one who couldn't care less about battles. They were cool, and all that jazz, but for someone like Fresh... Eh, he wondered what would happen if people like Cross and Epic fought. That'd get rid of the boring expressions everyone had. It was less fun to watch fights if everyone around you was acting like someone had just died.

**"...You're destroying all that I've been trying to protect..." Ink's red eyelights stared back at Cross.**

**Classic whipped his mouth, getting rid of the sliver of blood before turning to Ink. "Take it easy, Ink." As soon as his attention was diverted, Ink's eyelights returned to normal. "I'll handle this." He stepped forward, the locket bouncing against his chest.**

**Cross reached up and gripped his own locket, in a daze. "Oh, I see."**

If Dream carried a sentimental object around, what would it be? 

He had his cape, sure, but was there anything else? 

Taking off his cape, Dream buried his face in it.

Sometimes it smelled like rain, sometimes it smelled like Nightmare, sometimes... sometimes he wanted to tear it apart. 

Maybe he'd wait until he found another sentimental object before he ever went through with that urge.

**Cross shook himself from his stupor. "You're going to use Sans as your pawn." Cross brandished his knife again. "...Whelp." The knife went through Fell. "I think it will be a fair battle." The world glitched and Fell was now under their control.**

** I n f e c t e d ** ****

"Great, a glitch can control people." Too similar to his own ability.

**"...By the way, Sans." Cross raised his heart locket, a deadly look in his eyes. "That heart locket doesn't belong to you..."**

Chara pondered if Cross said that in defense of himself, or perhaps both of them. Maybe in defense of their fallen... what's the word... could they have been considered a family?

…

……

………That's taking it too far…

_**"Why did you refuse** _ **to help me...?**

**...Did you... _hate_ my world?"**

Outer was curious if he was the only one that could hear how the voice was overlapping itself. Like an echo, two different beings asking the same question to a third party.

"That's like at the start of this episode, right?" Outer asked Stretch, who looked thoughtful.

"Yeah, though tibia honest, I'm pretty sure the monster at the start of this episode and the one now are different monsters talking."

Outer would agree if he wasn't so sure there were two talking now, and one sounded like-

He gave a ~~smile~~ lazy grin and turned back to the screen.

**"The core code of this world is mine now..." They were back to reality, nothing other than a few trees remained of Underfell's Snowdin. "I can use it better than these stupid people."**

"Cross is way better at destruction than you, Bruh." 

Error refused to respond to Fresh of all parasites.

**"Sans. I'll help you as long as I can."**

"What." Chara could not catch a break.

**"Please, don't hurt this version of you." Ink readied Broomy. "He is corrupted, but we can find a way to bring him back to normal."**

"The guys more tolerable as he is now..."

 **~~Fell~~ ** **The controlled skeleton formed the first attack, bones shooting up from the ground.**

**Classic relaxed as Ink jumped into the air to avoid the attack before he jerked to the side, avoiding one bone. Grinning, he teleported around to evade the rest, practically striking a pose at the end.**

"Rad!"

"He's just showing off," Chara complained.

**Cross watched through narrowed sockets as the controlled skeleton formed multiple blasters and tried a direct attack to beat Classic, only for Ink to jump in and create a barrier, blocking the blasts.**

**The controlled skeleton continued to advance with their blasters as Cross teleported over, slicing through the wall.**

**Classic and Ink vanished, appearing behind the two now.**

**With their initial attacks resulting in failure, the controlled skeleton brought out another blaster, with Classic doing the same, the two blasts collided and it became a struggle over who had more power.**

"It's effective..." Core wondered if there were conditions that needed to be met to control other monsters. It was an intriguing premise.

They were rather pleased no one was paying attention to them at the moment. Well, Error wasn't actually watching the fight, still making puppets, and Fresh... who knew what they were doing. Core couldn't even describe it. 

At least the others were watching the fight. 

It wouldn't be too good if they were the ones insistent on others paying attention only to ignore the screen in favor of their own musings.

Ah, the irony. Core rather disliked irony.

**Nightmare watched the battle from a distance, carefully avoiding being spotted.**

Dream sometimes wondered if he was surrounded by the most oblivious monsters ever to exist. While he's sure everyone in this room now knows Nightmare is his brother, it was amazing how little everyone else in their multiverse knew.

What exactly did people think was happening?

Nightmare and Dream, Negativity and Positivity. They even had the same height and their eyelights... if one focused enough, it wasn't hard to figure out. Maybe that was why Nightmare changed his wardrobe to look more like a typical Sans and Dream's reason he was... hoping to change his own clothing.

Or maybe he was overthinking things. 

~~Nightmare probably knew the people they both surrounded themselves with were idiots~~

Was he the only one who found it obvious? 

~~It was annoying when people couldn't tell~~

Then again, It was too awkward to explain either way.

**More and more blasters were forming as each second passed, trapped with no end in sight. Ink covered his sockets, blinking them open only when Cross appeared behind him, attempting to get his own hit in.**

**Classic teleported, blaster battle over, he teleported both himself and Ink out of the way. Using his magic, Classic kept the controlled skeleton in place as Ink trapped it, and then dragged himself and Cross to be standing directly in front of one another.**

**"You said this heart locket doesn't belong to me... well, that half a soul doesn't belong to you either..."**

**"You can't hurt me. You want your half a soul back, right?" Cross responded, stone-faced.**

**"Heh. Why don't you take a break?" Classis shrugged his shoulders, a helpless grin on his face. "Sleeping is more fun than corrupting timelines, buddy."**

**"I was never trained to be lazy." Cross countered, forming knives as Classic created blasters, the two were left at a standstill.**

Chara blinked, their body feeling... heavy.

In a world like theirs, they could never take a break, not truly.

What was it like to fully unwind without a care in the world?

Maybe he could take a break with Cross after all this. That sounded nice.

**"Usually I only have enough energy for talking..." Classic joked. "So, I'm just going to ask ya somethin'... who is he?" Ink, distracted, and listening to their interaction, frowned, eyelights changing briefly. "And I'm not asking about the human inside your body." XChara curiously moved closer to listen in. "Well, after we met, I saw... someone interesting. That guy seemed to be a nice person. But... there was someone else..." The image Classic was picturing was shown before it switched to a mangled monster. "And I must say, he didn't look so friendly." Classic shut his sockets. "Does he have anything to do with ya?" His eyelights disappeared, leaving nothing but empty, bottomless sockets. "You can have fun with my soul, but if someone like HIM has the same idea... bud... do you really know what would happen?"**

Chara froze, hands shaking as they listened to Classic speak. They'd hoped so hard that they wouldn't have to see him at all during this. How did he even see him? Was it because they absorbed his soul?

 _why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, **why-**_ ****

Dream and Fresh's hands, for skeletons, generated nothing but warmth for Chara.

It had been so long since anyone comforted him. But now both of his shaking hands were held by their own warm hands.

~~Chara didn't realize Fresh and Dream weren't supposed to be able to touch him~~

**Cross (like XChara) froze, knives fading from existence as he leaped away from Classic in a blind panic. "Wh-... he can't be-"**

_**"Cross! Listen to me!"** _ **XChara screeched, his own fear showing. "You idiot! Listen to me, trashbag! He's just screwing with your mind!" Classic got rid of his own blasters. "We have to go now, we have the core code of this place!"**

**The controlled skeleton broke free at that moment, darting towards Classic.**

**"Darn!" Ink looked up, waking up from his own distracted thoughts.**

"Squid shouldn't have gotten distracted." Error drawled, putting his current puppet in the making to the side as he finally watched the screen again.

**Classic turned, swiftly using his magic to slam the other skeleton into the snowy ground. "K, you asked for it, Cross." He grinned sharply. "Time to use my SPECIAL ATTACK."**

Core scrunched up their face. Did Classic have a special attack? They couldn't.... they couldn't recall.

**"CROSS!! WE CAN GO HOME NOW!" XChara was desperate, going as far as to pulling at Cross' arm.**

"That's embarrassing." Chara moved closer to Dream to use his pillow-cape to hide his face. He probably did a lot of dumb stuff when he thought only Cross could see him.

**"YOU GOT IT! SANS!" Ink cheered, as Sans prepared his final attack, aimed at Cross and-**

**A pink slipper whacked Cross in the face.**

"HAHAHAHAHA!!" Fresh's laughter was infectious. "BRAH! THIS GUY GETS IT!! RADICAL!!!"

"Shut up, parasite!"

**"Your slipper." Ink puffed out his cheeks whilst also maintaining a deadpan expression. Skill. "Your special attack... is your slipper."**

**"Sorry pal. I'm out of ideas." A mischievous grin grew across Classics face. "With just half a SOLE I can barely do a SOFT KICK."**

**Ink took a moment to register the pun before he burst out laughing, Classic shooting him finger guns.**

Outer and Stretch burst out laughing as many stared at them, stone-faced.

Some people would never understand a good pun.

**"Uhh..." ~~The controlled skeleton the free skeleton~~ Fell groaned as he stood, voice glitching as he spoke. "...What happened...?"**

"That was... simple," Core murmured, still deep in thought. Was it easy to control others because it was also easy to break?

 _**"IMPOSSIBLE!!"** _ ****

...Maybe not, Core sighed, back to the drawing board.

**"YOU!!" Fell screamed at the top of his non-existent lungs.**

**"We did it, Pal!!" Ink cheered with a smile, the opposite of Classic's dumbfounded expression. "I dunno how but-"**

**Fell shoved them both out of the way. "...YOU!! HHH YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THIS!!" A bone attack was formed and lodged itself right into Cross' arm.**

**Classic, standing behind fell, instantly grabbed his own arm, expression twisted in pain.**

"Bad move." Fresh liked how he could find at least some amusement in this whole mess.

**"No, wait! Don't hurt him!" Ink waved his arms around in a panic, ignored as Fell formed a blaster and aimed it at Cross.**

"Oh **shizzle** -" Chara's eyes were blown wide. That was not good. How the fuck did this even happen...

**Cross grimaced, trapped because of the bone in their arm. Well, the bone that was not his own.**

**Suddenly, Cross grinned as XChara appeared before him.**

** E S C A P E D ** ****

"Oh, thank **funkily**." Chara breathed a sigh of relief, ignoring Fresh’s weird-ass censoring choices. ****

**Nightmare, never having been noticed, also left.**

Dream frowned, grip tightening on his pillow-cape.

Stupid Nightlight

**"...Agh..." Fell looked around their surroundings. Nothing. There was nothing but snow. "Just look at this disaster... DAMN!!"**

Error quietly snickered at Ink's traumatized expression.

**"Um... We're really sorry... But hey! At least nobody is dead!" Ink offered with a trembling smile.**

"Isn't that a downside over there?" Stretch deadpanned, smirking as Outer laughed.

**"You're sorry... YOU'RE SORRY!!??" Fell raged at Ink, body shaking. "SNOWDIN HAS BEEN DESTROYED!!"**

"Technically, it was just moved." Outer pointed out. Though he wasn't sure how to feel about Error laughing at what he'd said. It wasn't that funny. Not nearly as good as puns.

**"YOU PROVOKED THIS, DIDN'T YA? FINE! YOU'LL HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS TO MY BRO-" A slipper hit the side of his head.**

**"Hey, I'm gonna STOMP YA with my special attack if you don't shut your mouth, dude."**

Stretch and Outer loved puns.

**"You think this is some kind of joke!?" Fell turned his attention to Classic, poking him in the chest repeatedly. "CUZ YOU LOOK LIKE ME BUT WAY MORE STUPID!**

**"DO - YOU - WANNA - HEAR - A - BETTER - JOKE?" Classic asked, eyelights vanishing.**

**"Hey guys, calm down!" Ink pushed himself between the two. "Your timeline will be safe, but you and the others should evacuate to another part of this world for safety. Classic Sans and I will handle th-"**

**A portal opened up behind Ink, blue strings wrapping around him and pulling him through, the portal closing up behind him.**

"Uhhhhhhhhhhh-" Error glitched, somehow managing not to crash despite... Fucking Ink.

_"You good?"_

Error turned, surprised to see Outer hanging off of his own couch to get a closer look at Error.

Error huffed, turning away from the other. _"Fine."_

". . ." Outer blinked slowly, his smile twisting into more of a grimace before he stopped himself. _"K, if you need anything, I'm here!"_

Error wondered how no one noticed their interaction. Well, not no-one, though Stretch seemed to always know the exact moments he needed to glare at Error.

Had Error ever made a puppet of Outer? He liked his world well enough. It was one of two that he practically refused to destroy under any circumstances. To think he'd never met the other skeleton before. At least it was an idea for his next doll.

**"Ink!" Classic grew nervous as the moment Ink disappeared the monsters of Underfell started coming out of hiding.**

"Cowards." Chara scoffed."

**"What the-"**

**"Nice. I'm stuck here now." Looking at all the monsters surrounding them, Classic grinned. "Whelp, I can take a break for a while." He winked before teleporting away. "See ya, edgy me."**

**"HEY WAIT!!" Fell reached out, hand coming into contact with thin air. Frowning, he was distracted by a phone call. "Sup."**

**"BROTHER"**

"Oh, poor Fell." Core giggled, smile widening as Fresh joined in on their amusement.

"What's funny?" Outer seriously could not understand.

"Just wait." Error responded, glitching as Outer turned to him in surprise. "What?"

**"P-Papyrus! I-I MEAN BOSS!" Fell nervously tugged at his necktie, "H-howzitgoing!? Snowdin is fine as always! Nothing strange or something has happened!"**

**"TURN AROUND"**

**Fell froze as he noticed the camera pointed directly at himself.**

**"I SAW EVERYTHING" Fell gripped the phone tighter. "WHAT YOU DID... AND I'M NOT HAPPY"**

**"Aaah B-Boss I can explain-"**

**"I WAS HAVING A NICE DAY WITH THE HUMAN, SO I'LL GIVE YOU A CHANCE... I'LL GIVE YOU TEN MINUTES TO HIDE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE..."**

**The voice was booming.**

** "BECAUSE WHEN I FIND YOU... I'LL USE YOUR SKULL TO SERVE MY SPAGHETTI!!!" **

**Fell's blank expression lasted a full second as he chucked the phone away. "HEY OTHER ME WAIT!!!!!!!!" A bone** **impaled the camera, destroying it as Fell teleported** **after Classic.**

"Wow, I almost feel bad for the guy." Chara snickered, quietly high-fiving Fresh without Dream noticing, who was valiantly acting like he found no amusement in the situation.

The guy would never relax and have fun, would he?

"Hmm, might understand what you meant now." Outer's smile shined like the stars. "Still not as good as puns though."

"Agreed." Stretch nodded, sending a glare at Error who'd turned to look at them.

"Would be funnier if it happened to the squid."

"Next part." Core wasn't sure if they would fit into any of these conversations or... or...

The disconnected feeling returned.

It didn't matter, they should focus more on their theories and not the others.

_That's what they wanted._


	8. Reboot, It's Fresh's fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for the support I received with the last chapter, you all honestly left me speechless when I started reading through them, so thank you, so much.  
> The notes at the end are going to be somewhat important this and next chapter, so look out for that!  
> For the past month I've been considering an... idea, for something to do with this fic. I need more time to think, but I'll explain it at the end of the next chapter, and it may end up happening.

**Compared to the dark look of Snowdin, Underfell's version of Snowdin looked near-identical to the original. Surrounded by echo flowers, Classic lightly snoozed as he relaxed in an upright, seated position. Slowly opening his sockets, he looked off to the side.**

**"So, you decided to follow me, huh?" He questioned before his sockets widened, and his smile turned into a frown.**

**Standing beside Classic was not Fell, but CORE!Frisk.**

"Look who's decided to get involved." Error scoffed, rolling his eyes and shoving his hands into his pockets. 

"And you're not doing the same?" Core's expression still had that all-knowing look to it, though it was now accompanied by a hint of smugness as Core turned to Error.

"I'm retired." 

"So you say." Core hummed as Stretch snorted in the background.

Retired, as if that would ever last. Whether Error wanted it to or not, peace would not last. 

The multiverse would become too dull that way.

**"When he is distracted, you can attack him and try to get your soul back." Core informed Classic, their expression like the void.**

"Don't help him!" Chara hissed, tempted to grab a pillow to throw at Core. Would no one be on their side but a **fun fish** octopus?!

**"That way, you can release other souls corrupted by the X-event." Classic blinked as Core continued speaking, their voice soft and empty. "I'm sorry, THEY involved you in this. It's THEIR fault, not yours."**

Stretch tried hard to keep the incredulous look off his face as his eyelights darkened. But seriously, how many of them knew about this event? 

It was ridiculous. 

Ink knew, Error knew, Core knew, Bloody Fresh and Dream probably knew. Admittedly, none of them knew now, but the future versions of them did. 

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Stretch tightened his grip on Outer. 

He wasn't going to let this event destroy them.

**"HEY!" Classic turned away from Core at the sound of Fell approaching, and turning back, he discovered that was all it took for them to disappear.**

Dream quietly laughed, a fond look in his eyelights. Core would never change, would they?

It was nice, sometimes, a small piece of familiarity.

**"Huff... finally found ya," Fell growled, walking around the corner with a disgruntled look. "I don't have any choice but to stay with you, weirdo." He justified and flopped down onto the ground beside Classic.**

**"Whelp, I hope this won't be a problem because we have to stay here until Ink returns."**

**'It's their fault, not yours.' An echo flower repeated Core's words. 'It's their fault. It's their fault. _It's their fault.'_**

"Ominous." Fresh snickered as he wiggled his fingers at Dream and Chara, the latter reaching over to suffocate him with a pillow and a vicious grin on his face.

If he couldn't throw a pillow at Core, he'd just use one to suffocate Fresh.

"GAH! MERCY! MERCY! HOW CAN WEIRD GHOSTLY PHANTOMS BE SO MEAN!" Fresh dramatically yelled as he tried to push the pillow away from his face.

"Chara!" Dream squeaked out as the two almost crashed into him. 

Whatever entity brought them here obviously didn't think about the sort of idiots it was leaving the multiverse to. 

**The flowers kept repeating as the two skeletons sat in awkward silence.**

**Classic grinned and leaned towards Fell. "Knock Knock"**

**"Not now."**

**Classic gave the other a cheeky grin. "Knock Knock"**

**Fell looked exasperated as he turned away. "...Who's there?"**

"Daww" Outer giggled, for some reason, he found this scene adorable.

"Boo"

**"Boo who"**

**Classic winked. "Hey man, don't cry. It's just a knock-knock joke."**

**Fell's eye socket twitched as his eyelights fizzled out of sigh.**

**'Knock Knock' ' Boo' Who's there?'**

**The echo flowers repeated as Fell slammed his hands to the sides of his skull.**

“Hah!" Outer and Stretch laughed, the others looking on with varying degrees of amusement. Not all puns were terrible.

**Classic glanced at the flowers, gleeful smile falling as he recalled his previous encounter.**

Core frowned. Maybe their methods weren't always the best way to get what they wanted. At least they left an impression?

**In another part of the multiverse, Ink idly swung his legs and shifted in the strings that kept him suspended in mid-air.**

**"...You can untie me now, Error..."**

**Not a second later, Error descended to be eye-level with Ink, casually using his strings as a makeshift chair.**

Outer and Error perked up as the glitchy skeleton was shown on screen, and Stretch rolled his eyelights. 

Stretch was willing to bet money that Error used his strings as a swing, funking anti-social man-baby.

**"I can see our last encounter didn't affect you as I expected." Error started casually. "...You can't learn anything from this, can you?"**

**Strings dissipating, the two skeletons were placed onto the ground.**

Fresh narrowed his sockets behind his glasses. That place was the place the two had met up before.

**"I'm really impressed, Ink. You're putting Classic Sans' life at risk to stop that stupid anomaly." Crossing his arms, Error smirked. "Are you afraid that you can't do it on your own? Or do you just wanna _play those weird games you learned from that guy."_**

Stretch twitched. Error knew, confirmed. Great, just _great_.

**Ink, ignoring Error's question, jumped closer to the retired destroyer. "ARE THOSE NEW CLOTHES!?" Tugging the others arm closer to himself, Ink continued. "Heheh, you're like a hobo. Looks so comfy!"**

**"AGH! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!?" Error screeched, yanking himself free from Inks grip.**

The three sprawled out on the ground giggled to themselves. 

Chara couldn't believe this was the ass that stole their soul. Then again, he also couldn't comprehend that they'd lose to a **flipping** slipper.

**"...LET'S CUT THIS STUPID MOMENT. I'LL GET STRAIGHT TO THE POINT." Error growled as Cross and XChara's soul descended to float between the two, wrapped up in Error's strings. "I should have destroyed this thing a long time ago... but I haven't yet for just one reason."**

Chara's eyes darkened, hands gripping the material of Dream's cape tighter. He'd almost forgotten why he hated the windows vista.

"Ah, so that's why you're still around." Core chimed, voice oddly light-hearted considering the circumstances.

**"We made a truce, Ink. _no more creation, no more destruction_** **.** **"**

**"Did we make that?" Ink let out a laugh that echoed in their surroundings. "I don't remember that."**

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chara snapped at the other, the cape in their hands straining.

**"EVERYTHING WAS FINE UNTIL YOU MET A NEW AU AND YOU STARTED BOTHERING ME AGAIN!!!"**

**"Such good times." Ink smiled happily, seemingly oblivious to Error's current mood.**

**"NO! YOU STARTED TALKING TO ME ALL THE TIME ABOUT YOUR _NEW FRIEND_ AND HIS STUPID _INTERESTING GAMES_. AND AFTER THAT DISGUSTING WORLD WAS CORRUPTED, YOU JUST DECIDED TO PROTECT THAT ANOMALY CALLED CROSS!**

Outer blinked as Stretch tensed beside him, feeling the other's grip on him tighten. He didn't mind. Everyone needed something to ground them. At least this way, he knew he had someone who wouldn't hesitate to comfort him during these strange events.

**"I know! We can be scarf pals now!!" Ink continued his previous train of thought.**

"Oh. I'm talking about your soul. What else would I be speaking of?" Core tilted their head, suddenly in a talkative mood after remaining silent for so long. "Your alive because your soul wasn't shattered. But at the same time, the fact that your soul is unique is both leaving it in a constant state of attempting to kill you and keep you alive. That's why you're working on borrowed time. If anything, I'd say something else is also-"

"Write an essay while you're at it." Error cut in, stare sharp. "If you're suddenly going to start talking like you know anything again, then I won't hesitate to silence you _my_ way _._ " 

These anomalies were annoying enough, but now they were distracting him from his obviously cool and significant moment on screen. Unacceptable.

**"You're scheming something, aren't you? That's why I've decided to intervene." Error calmed himself, unwilling to rise to Inks bait and let himself remain distracted. "I don't think you are with those anomalies just to stop Cross." Error grinned and pressed further as he watched Inks smile fall. "You're doing this for something other than a Heroic Act."**

"Hmph, as if." Core muttered under their breath, grimacing as they registered their own actions. They were getting too relaxed around this group.

"Hey, you're stuck in a physical form. I can do what I want." Error told the other with a hint of pride before turning back to eagerly watch his future-self act the best. Well, not as good as present him, but his future-self got second place in the rankings.

**"If you're thinking to make more Anomalies... YOU'LL REGRET HAVING BROKEN OUR TRUCE. I SWEAR TO YOU." Error raised his arms in a grand gesture, grin turning smug. "I could easily take EVERYONE as my puppets, erase EVERYTHING forever..." Error formed two portals behind himself. "but I wanna-"**

"FRESH!!!" Error's voice boomed in their small surroundings, face flushing in embarrassment as the parasite made a small cameo in one of the portals Error had opened.

**"When I discover-" Fresh pointed finger-guns at Ink through the portal as Ink tried desperately not to laugh at Error's ignorance.**

YOU **BALLERINA** _ **-!!!!!!!!!!**_ " Error screeched before his voice cut off. 'REBOOTING'

"You're amazing, Fresh." Chara snorted, high-fiving the parasite.

"I'm surprised he didn't crash sooner." Dream sighed, blinking as Outer wiggled out of Stretch's grip to sit on the ground near Error's couch.

Stretch frowned, unsure how to act. While he did hate the destroyer, Outer had likely never met Error before now. He probably didn't hate him as Stretch did. Still, it didn't get rid of the growing need to keep the two far away from each other, similar to his urge to get Chara and Cross' soul back to the odd duo. Stars, Stretch sighed. 

He couldn't believe he was growing attached to this lot.

**"Get out of my sight before you puke on me or something." Error opened a portal for Ink, letting him return to Underfell. As Ink walked off, he turned to gaze at Cross and XChara's soul, contemplating something.**

**Now back with Classic and Fell, Ink painted over Fell's torn clothing, making it look brand new.**

**"Alright. Now you look like you were just painted, heheh!" Ink laughed as he stepped away from Fell. "Well, now you can hide away from your brother for the rest of your life."**

While being Ink's friend was great, moments like these were when Dream wondered if the other actually thought through at least some of what he said and did.

**"Uh... actually... I don't..."**

**"Edgy-me wants to come with us." Classic cut in, voice raised for the other two to hear him as he was seated on a rock further away. "He's afraid of being alone, and he wants to give Cross a kick in the butt for humiliating him."**

**"HEY!"**

**"R-really? WOAH! GREAT! WE'LL BE LIKE A TEAM!" Ink's smile widened impossibly, and his eyes watered. "I THINK THAT... I THINK THAT I'M REALLY EXCITED RIGHT NOW! "**

**Watching Ink's eyelights flicker, Classic dramatically called out to Fell. "Oh no, he's gonna throw up-" Right on cue.**

"Ink..." Dream trailed off, reaching over Chara to use some of his cape to hide his expression. Did Ink miss the days they'd been a team? He'd admit that despite the circumstances, it had all been fun. Maybe one day... no, like Ink and Blue would ever agree. It was his fault it had all ended in the first place.

" **What the heck is wrong with you?!" Fell turned away from Ink.**

**"You'll get used to it." Classic snickered as he walked over to the two. "Hey, Ink, where are we going now?"**

**"Cross must have returned to his world along with the Snowdin from this place."**

**"WHAT? What do you mean by that?!" Fell shoved his firsts deep into his pockets. "I saw how he destroyed everything!"**

**"It's not like that. Cross actually took Snowdin's code and transferred it to his blank world. I understand everything. He'll take fragments from every AU to rebuild his world because..." Ink trailed off awkwardly as his mind went blank. "Wait, what were we talking about again...?"**

Core tugged at their puffy sweater as they thought. So far, it seemed as though things were going to get worse and worse.

Glancing at their companions, Core wondered if they should start evacuating worlds when they get back to the Omega timeline. There were enough monsters in there that if they could get someone to open a chain of portals, they could do a mass evacuation of the multiverse at a moment’s notice.

Would that be a good idea? They could... they could...

It wasn't impossible.

**Classic continued the conversation for Ink with a small smile. “If Cross is there, then we should surprise him before he goes to another AU."**

**"It's not possible. It's a completely huge and empty world... so finding Cross and Snowdin would take us too much time and..." Ink looked away, his concerned look growing. "We simply can't risk ourselves like that. You only have half your soul."**

While Fresh could tell Inky brah wasn't tellin' everything, his explanation made more sense to Fresh than Classic. Fresh knew the rules when it came to his hunting. Acting in areas others were overly familiar with was dangerous enough, but a blank world with no end in sight? Cross and Chara, the ultimate chocolate tag team, would win, no doubt. Hah! They'd screw with anyone that came into their domain.

**"Hey. I don't have all day." Fell grumbled as he moved between the two. "Are we going or what?"**

**"........." Ink crossed his arms, thoughtful. "I don't know which AU Cross could head to..."**

**'I do.'**

**Ink perked up, eyelights lighting up as he relaxed. "Dream? Is that you?"**

**"If I can't go with you, then I'll look over Cross and my brother as an advantage." Dream responded, keeping his voice quiet as he watched Cross from behind a tree in X-Tale.**

"Do you have some telepathic ability?" Outer asked quietly, unsure if his voice would affect Error's rebooting. He was not used to this stuff.

"It's hard to explain." Dream hesitated, twisting his hands against his clothes. "I can explain it later?

"..." Outer's smile fell slightly, unsure if he'd hit a sensitive topic, or Dream was naturally nervous when explaining his abilities. "Okay!"

**'Dream... Thank you...' Ink's voice held an unidentifiable emotion as Dream refocused his gaze back on Cross. 'Please. Tell me everything you know.'**

**Dream nodded, a determined glint entering his eyelights.**

**U N D E R S W A P**

"You have got to be kidding me." Stretch deadpanned, hiding his shaking hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

This was not good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can someone please tell me if Dream can actually use telepathy? It's in Underverse, but I can't find anything that can explain how he uses it, if he can Link others, use it on multiple people to make a group chat. What's the guys range???? (frustrating me to no end)  
> Question: should the next part be 'Come Back'  
> While it is a very short video, I can probably work around that and just have more to do with the characters interacting, like Error actually rebooting and Stretch's thoughts on his world being next.  
> So, less reaction, but more development? If that makes sense.  
> Hope you enjoyed this part!  
> I tried very hard to have enough fluff and angst to satisfy, well, me.

**Author's Note:**

> I am still working on my other fanfiction, this is just something I started posting on another site to pass the time. I will be updating my other fanfiction next month though, if that means anything.


End file.
